World Cup history will be made between England and Argentina as these countries meet in the semi-finals of the tournament at the Atlanta Stadium, in the United States, at 9 in the evening.
England entered this match with a 2-1 win over Norway. In the other qualifiers, they beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 2-1 in the Last 32, and beat Mexico 3-2 in the Last 16.
Argentina beat Switzerland 3-1 in the quarterfinals. In the Last 32, they defeated Cape Verde 3-2, in the Last 16, they eliminated Egypt in the same way.
These teams will be facing each other for the first time since the last friendly match in 2005 and it will be the first time that Argentina’s star, Lionel Messi, will face England.
England and Argentina have played five times in the history of the World Cup, England won three times, Argentina passed twice.
“We are not focused on history before this game. What we know as players is that we will play against a team that is smart and knows how to play football. It is difficult to face them but we hope that will make us play better,” said the captain of England, Harry Kane.
“They have a player who competes with the best in the world, which is Lionel Messi. We know how dangerous he is, but we will be playing against Argentina, not Messi.”
Messi said he is looking forward to playing against England, which may be his first and last chance to play with this country.
“It is always special to face a country with a history in football. I have never played against England before,” said Messi.
“Playing in the semi-finals of the World Cup is something special in itself. We went through difficult games to reach this round. We should enjoy this game because we don’t know how long it will take for our country to reach this stage again,”
Kane has scored six goals for England in this World Cup, a record he holds with his teammate Jude Bellingham in this team. Messi has scored eight goals for Argentina in this year’s tournament.