AS IT HAPPENED | Argentina stun England with late comeback, reach 2nd consecutive World Cup final

Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates as England’s Marcus Rashford looks on after the FIFA World Cup semifinal in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)

No matter how the managers shook off the echoes of history, the match could hear it. They danced and jumped, shirtless, until the media engagements of Argentina were over and their buses were about to leave. The crowd lingered, just to soak in the exhaustively joyful vibes of a grand feat. Atlanta would feel like the Azteca. Maybe, it’s for experiences and emotions such as these, which life after game cannot give, that Messi continues to play the game.

On his way back to the tunnel, he wrapped his arms around England captain Harry Kane, stopped for a chat with John Stones, and consoled Thomas Tuchel. He could relate with England’s pain, he has felt similar torment. It was a poignant frame that captured the undulating emotions of a game that barely roused in the first half. On one side of the ground, Argentinians and their supporters were bringing the roof down; not far from the, England’s players lay coiled on the ground, cursing the cruel fate, wondering where it all went awry for them, fearing how history would judge them, or the social media would rip them. England couldn’t beat Maradona; they wouldn’t his heir Messi either. Kane said he was gutted, but the trauma could live forever. Another game into the alley of heartbreaks.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi (10) and England’s Harry Kane embrace after the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

Yet, it could have been all different. Just five minutes remained between a painful end to Messi’s career, the meaningful part of it, before he and his indefatigable men pulled off another miraculous escape, scoring two goals in only 360 seconds and nailed their spot in the final. This one would be sweeter than the Egypt heist; the rumbling crowd, the layers of history that underpins the two nations, the angst and acrimony that spilled onto the field, the nerves and the tensions that clanged, the cup that could slip from their hands, the hollowness of becoming the former champions.

But when adversity stares into their eyes, Argentina inevitably finds a thread of hope. Perhaps, its their ignition; they need a slap on their face to wake them up from the slumber. It was the precise moment that elevated the game from a wrestling bout to a football match, A more short-tempered referee would have flicked the cards in his chest-pocket more often. Players pushed and pulled, tackles flew as frequently as invectives. A header from John Stones off a Declan Rice was the first convincing shot attempt. That came 33 minutes into the game. Before half-time nudged in, Enzo Fernandez unzipped a curler that he couldn’t keep down and soared over Jordan Pickford. The apter portrait of the game was the 7-12 in Argentina’s favour, the number of fouls both teams committed.

Players argue during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

When everything is pushed to the corner, when the comeback paths are blocked, when all is nearly lost, when they throw the carefully-conceived tactical sheets into the wind, eschew structures and formations, and just unlock chaos. A rhythmic, systematic chaos, like the chorus of their anthem Muchachos. Messi, refined in La Masia, was never a man of chaos. Now, he is an agent of chaos. He defined football in his image; now he is redefining it.

The second Argentina conceded, through a startling defensive lapse that winger Anthony Gordon pounced, they transformed into a different team; they gathered a sense of authority. Before Enzo Fernandez’s strike, a curling pearler that swung away from Jordan Pickford, Alexis Mac Allister had hit the upright (he would slam the post again), Nico Gonzalez induced a low diving save off Pickford. Each unfruitful attempt didn’t wither them. Messi implored the crowd to raise the volume and keep believing. From a fleeting passage of shock, they picked up their voice. Argentina found their precision and purpose.

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (1) fails to stop a shot by Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez (24) as he scores his side’s first goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

When Argentina got a corner, England packed the box, anticipating a wickedly swirling corner. It didn’t. Messi took the corner shot, received it and recycled it to Fernandez, in vast space. He took a touch and wrapped his foot around it. The ball whooshed past Pickford, who had put in a heroic shift. Discernible was a shift in mood. You could hear the sound of England’s belief creaking, thanks to their own self-destructiveness and defensive tactics. Argentina would now be unstoppable. They tigerishly reclaimed possession; they ravenously attacked England’s box, dismantling their cohesion and destroying their belief.

The dagger through the heart arrived. From the foot of Messi, again. He swirled a devastatingly arcing cross over Nico O’ Reilly. Lautaro Martinez was waiting. He strained every sinew of his neck to meet the ball and guide it past Pickford. This was the game; Argentina knew; England knew it too. England could not beat Maradona; they couldn’t beat Messi either. And Messi has one more game to experience the whole spectrum of emotions that he lives for. Perhaps the greatest game of his career; or the cruellest.