\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t The Argentina men\u2019s national football team is set to take on England in the World Cup 2026 semifinal on Wednesday. The match will be played at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia and is set to kick off at 4 p.m. Argentina time.<\/p>\n
It has been a bumpy road for Argentina into the semifinals. The Albiceleste beat Algeria 3-0, Austria 2-0, and Jordan 3-1 in a nearly flawless group stage. However, it had to fight hard across back-to-back 3-2 wins against Cape Verde \u2014 in extra time \u2014\u00a0 and a miracle comeback from two goals down against Egypt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the quarterfinals, Argentina beat Switzerland 3-1. However, head coach Lionel Scaloni\u2019s team was overpowered for long stretches of the match and only gained the upper hand after the Swiss were reduced to 10 men following a dive to simulate a foul earned forward Breel Embolo a second yellow card and an automatic send-off.<\/p>\n
With little in the way of physical problems, Argentina is likely to line up with Emiliano Dibu Mart\u00ednez in goal and a back four of Nahuel Molina, Cristian Cuti Romero, Lisandro Mart\u00ednez, and Nicol\u00e1s Tagliafico.<\/p>\n
In midfield, the trio of Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez and Alexis Mac Allister will likely be joined by Boca Juniors\u2019 Leandro Paredes, with Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez and star and captain Lionel Messi up top.<\/p>\n
\u2018A unique game\u2019 Argentine players spoke to the press ahead of the final training session in the build up to the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scaloni attempted to defuse tensions in his press conference after securing the semifinal spot last Saturday, saying the game was \u201cjust a football match, nothing else.\u201d His sentiment was echoed by several groups representing Malvinas War veterans.<\/p>\n
However, midfielder Rodrigo de Paul admitted there\u2019s something special about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love these kinds of games \u2014 they motivate me,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s something special about them that really brings out a lot in me. I\u2019ve never faced England before, and I\u2019m looking forward to it with a mix of excitement and anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, he added he hopes fans \u201cgo to enjoy the spectacle,\u201d calling it a \u201cunique game,\u201d and insisted the squad is \u201creceptive to all that energy the fans send [their] way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gonzalo Montiel, who scored the deciding penalty in the Qatar 2022 final shootout, said the team is \u201cready for another semifinal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing back at this stage is a dream, a privilege \u2014 and even more so to play in this shirt,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Midfielder Alexis Mac Allister said that the team wants to \u201crepresent our country in the best possible way\u201d and that Argentina won\u2019t negotiate their style of play when facing a much tougher rival than in the previous stages.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a very clear vision,\u201d he said. \u201cWe always play the same way, and we\u2019re not going to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malvinas imagery banned ahead of the game Games between Argentina and England are some of the most historically charged duels in football, particularly at a World Cup.<\/p>\n
The two share crucial military history, most notably the 1982 Malvinas War, but also the 19th-century English invasions of Buenos Aires and the 1845 blockade of the city\u2019s port.<\/p>\n
Argentine Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva confirmed on Tuesday that Argentine fans attending the game will be banned from carrying signs or flags with \u201cany kind of provocative message, whether political, racial, or otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Monteoliva didn\u2019t specifically confirm it, the ban will likely include any kind of message alluding to the Malvinas War, one of the biggest points of tension between Argentines and the English.<\/p>\n
England\u2019s path It hasn\u2019t been smooth sailing for the English national team either in reaching the semis. The team coached by Germany\u2019s Thomas Tuchel has several standout players, led by Bayern Munich\u2019s Harry Kane, but performances have been marked by ups and downs.<\/p>\n
In the group stage, they debuted with a 4-2 win over Croatia, but then struggled to manage more than a 0-0 tie against Ghana in a hard-fought game, before closing out the group stage with a comfortable 2-0 win over Panama.<\/p>\n
In the round of 32, DR Congo pushed them all the way, taking the lead with a goal from Brian Cipenga just seven minutes in. Kane rescued them with just 15 minutes remaining, scoring two goals to send England into the next round.<\/p>\n
Mexico gave Tuchel\u2019s team another run for their money, dominating the game at times and forcing the English to defend a 3-2 lead with ten men over half an hour.<\/p>\n
In the quarterfinals, Real Madrid\u2019s Jude Bellingham stepped up this time. He first tied the game \u2014 in a play where the ball is under suspicion of hitting the camera wires at the beginning \u2014 and then doubling his tally at the start of extra time to give his team the win.<\/p>\n
English pundit\u2019s heat up the game Argentina has been under intense fire ahead of the game, not least from former England players, who appear to be very confident of a win for the Three Lions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have to put [Messi] to bed, we\u2019ll put him to bed,\u201d said former Chelsea forward Joe Cole. \u201cI\u2019m saying it now, we\u2019re going to the World Cup final. We\u2019ve got too much face for Argentina.\u201d<\/p>\n
His confidence has been echoed by other former internationals who work as pundits for several United Kingdom outlets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t worry about Argentina,\u201d said another former Chelsea man, John Terry. \u201cI\u2019m not worried they\u2019re better than us. I think man for man we\u2019re better than Argentina.\u201d<\/p>\n
The centerback went on to admit that the Albiceleste\u2019s greater experience in deciding stages of tournaments \u201ccould serve them well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another who took a shot at Scaloni\u2019s men was former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, who argued the team\u2019s centerbacks \u201cepitomise Argentina better than anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLisandro Mart\u00ednez and Cristian Romero seem to give a goal away between them every single game, and then they\u2019re scoring goals and being everywhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Editorial disclaimer: Although the UK refers to the territory as the \u201cFalkland Islands\u201d, Argentina strongly contests this name. The Buenos Aires Herald uses \u201cMalvinas\u201d to refer to the islands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Argentina men\u2019s national football team is set to take on England in the World Cup 2026 semifinal on Wednesday. The match will be played at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia and is set to kick off at 4 p.m. Argentina time. It has been a bumpy road for Argentina into the semifinals. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":90661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5063,66,67,338],"tags":[5307,1368,1369,20148],"class_list":["post-90660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-2026-world-cup","category-football","category-sports","category-world-cup","tag-2026-world-cup","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}