For about an hour on Wednesday night in Atlanta, England believed. Sixty minutes of a nation daring to dream that 60 years of hurt might actually end. Then Lionel Messi decided it wouldn’t.
Argentina 2, England 1. Another gut-punch ending. Another World Cup final for the defending champions. And another summer of “so close” for the Three Lions.
Here’s how it happened and why it might be the most brutal 10 minutes of football England have played in a decade.
The Setup: A Nation That Smelled Blood
England hadn’t reached a World Cup final since 1966. Sixty years of quarterfinal exits, penalty shootout nightmares, and near-misses. But this Thomas Tuchel team felt different battle-tested after grinding through a brutal match in Mexico City and surviving a scare against Norway in the quarterfinal.
Then Anthony Gordon happened. Fifty-five minutes in, Morgan Rogers whipped in a cross, Gordon tapped it home, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta briefly sounded like Wembley. England were 25 minutes away from a first World Cup final since the Beatles were still together.
The Collapse: Six Minutes That Will Haunt English Football
If you’ve watched Argentina during this tournament, you already know what happened next. This is now their signature move survive, absorb, and strike when the clock is running out.
For a fourth straight knockout match, Argentina found themselves in trouble late. And for a fourth straight knockout match, they didn’t blink.
In the 85th minute, Enzo Fernández who’d already had one effort tipped over the bar unleashed a strike from 20 yards that flew past England’s keeper. Level.
Then, in the second minute of stoppage time, the dagger. Messi, at 39 years old, still pulling strings like he’s 25, whipped in a cross for substitute Lautaro Martínez to head home. 2-1. Game over. Hearts shattered.
Six minutes. Two goals. One more chapter in the most painful book in English football.
Messi, Still Doing Messi Things
Let’s be clear about what happened here: Lionel Messi didn’t score either goal, and he still ran the entire show. Two assists, both in the biggest moments of the match, at an age when most players are commentating from a studio instead of playing in one.
This wasn’t quite Maradona’s 1986 masterclass against England nothing probably ever will be but it was Messi doing what Messi does: making a World Cup final appear out of thin air when his team needs it most. He’ll now become just the second player in history, after Brazil’s Cafu, to appear in three separate World Cup finals.
Harry Kane Says the Quiet Part Out Loud
England’s captain didn’t dodge the post-match questions, and honestly, his honesty stung more than the scoreline. He admitted his team had done everything right for 60 minutes scored, deserved to be ahead — and then simply lost their grip on the game, allowing Argentina to build momentum they could never get back.
It’s the same story England have told after Euro finals in 2024 and 2020, and after their last World Cup semifinal in 2018 beaten by the same 2-1 scoreline, despite scoring first. At some point, “so close” stops being a moral victory and starts being a pattern.
The Controversy Nobody Saw Coming
As if the football wasn’t dramatic enough, the aftermath added a political headache. Argentine players were photographed celebrating their win holding a banner referencing sovereignty over the Falkland Islands — a decades-old flashpoint between the two nations. The British government has since called on FIFA to investigate. Football and geopolitics colliding in real time, because of course they are.
What’s Next: Argentina vs Spain, Sunday
Argentina now face Spain in Sunday’s final at New York/New Jersey Stadium, and the history books are watching closely. No team has defended the World Cup since Brazil in 1962. Italy are the only other side to ever manage it. If Argentina win, Messi lifts back-to-back titles and cements an argument that’s already mostly settled: greatest of all time, no further questions.
Spain, meanwhile, arrive as favorites after dismantling France 2-0 in the other semifinal a France side that came in as many people’s pick to win it all. La Furia Roja have been the most complete team in this tournament, and now stand one win away from their second-ever World Cup.
Champions of Europe versus champions of South America. Reigning holders versus the tournament’s most in-form side. Sunday isn’t just a final it’s a genuine heavyweight fight.