WC-2026: England and Argentina to determine the World Cup finalist
Kyiv • UNN
On July 15, the national teams of England and Argentina will determine the second finalist of the 2026 World Cup. The winner will face Spain in the final on July 19.
Today, July 15, in Atlanta, the national teams of England and Argentina will determine the second finalist of the 2026 World Cup, where Spain has already advanced, writes UNN.
The match
The second semi-final match between England and Argentina will take place at 22:00 at the "Mercedes-Benz Stadium" in Atlanta. The winner of the pair will meet the Spanish national team in the final on July 19, which defeated France in the first semi-final (2:0), while the losing team will face the French in the match for the "bronze" medals.
The match was assigned to a refereeing team led by Ismail Elfath from the USA.
The referee is quite experienced, as he has already worked at the CONCACAF Champions League and Intercontinental Cup finals. Also in 2019, Elfath worked at the U-20 World Cup final, where Ukraine became the tournament winner.
At this World Cup, the American has already worked on top matches, such as Spain - Uruguay or Brazil - Norway. In addition, Ismail is considered a lucky referee for Lionel Messi.
The referee worked on five matches involving Inter Miami, in which Messi played. All five matches ended in triumph for Messi's team, and the Argentine himself scored six goals in these games.
In this match, the English will be without midfielder Jordan Henderson and defender Valentino Livramento due to injuries. Also, due to a red card, defender Jarell Quansah will miss the match.
Argentina has only one loss - defender Leonardo Balerdi will not play due to injury.
Path to the semi-finals
England quite confidently advanced to the round of 16 from the group, losing points only in the match against Ghana (0:0). In the round of 16, the English narrowly beat DR Congo (2:1), in the round of 8 they narrowly defeated the co-host of the tournament - Mexico (3:2), and in the quarter-finals they beat the sensational Norwegian team (2:1).
Argentina, on the other hand, won all three matches in the group, in the round of 16 they narrowly beat Cape Verde (3:2), in the round of 8 Argentina made a comeback against Egypt (3:2), trailing 2:0 during the match, and in the quarter-finals they beat Switzerland 3:1 in extra time.
Where to watch and who is the favorite
The match in Ukraine will be shown by the media service MEGOGO.
Bookmakers do not single out a clear favorite in this match, but give a slight advantage to England, which can be bet on with odds of 2.74. Argentina is given odds of 3.04.
History of confrontations
Throughout their history, the teams have met only 15 times (10 friendly matches, 5 at World Cups). Six times the "Three Lions" team won, three times the Argentines won, and six times the matches ended in a draw.
The last time the teams played was back in 2005 in a friendly match, which ended with a victory for the English - 3:2.
Perhaps the most memorable and scandalous match between the teams was in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup. Then the Argentines won - 2:1, and the second goal of Argentina was scored by Diego Maradona with his hand into the goal of Peter Shilton.
Maradona called this goal the "Hand of God." At the post-match press conference, the Argentine stated that the controversial ball was scored "partly by Maradona's head, and partly by God's hand."
Yes, a hand. But the hand of God. If only we could turn back time... I would promise the English that I wouldn't score a goal against them with my left hand... I would score against them with my right