England and Argentina are renewing a historic World Cup rivalry as the two nations battle for a place in the final after sharing plenty of memorable moments at this tournament over the last 60 years.
Thomas Tuchel appears to have taken a number of major selection gambles, with Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers set to start on the right, ahead of Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke, after impressing off the bench against Norway as well as two new full-backs coming into the side – fit-again Reece James at right-back and Djed Spence over Nico O’Reilly at left-back.
The Three Lions have also been given a huge boost after declaring Declan Rice fit to start the semi-final, which will help the bid to combat Lionel Messi – facing England for the first time in his career – and the rest of the attacking array at the disposal of the defending champions.
Can England advance to a men’s World Cup final for the first time since 1966? A politically-charged encounter could well be in store with security increased at the Atlanta Stadium, while Tuchel and Harry Kane have both hit out at suggestions of a rift in the camp. They, and Argentina, now know it will be Spain in the final after the European champions comprehensively shut down France to book their spot in Sunday evening’s showpiece. Who will join them?
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The Golden Boot race heats up
After Mbappe and France crashing out against Spain, Mbappe’s total for this tournament will be forever frozen at 8 goals and 3 assists. This is now a perfect opportunity for Messi to further cement his legacy and claim the Golden Boot – he currently matches Mbappe for goals and is one assist behind. The trophy therefore, as it stands, goes to Mbappe.
But let’s not forget about those in the England side who are more than in the race. Kane and Bellingham both sit on 6 goals each and they way they have both been playing it would be sensible to expect at least one of them to score tonight.
Messi also failed to net against Switzerland further opening the door for either Kane or Bellingham to score one or two tonight, knockout Argentina and press on for the Golden Boot in the final.
Argentina chasing membership to an exclusive club
If Argentina beat England tonight, they will be in their third World Cup final in four instalments of the competition and if they go on once more to beat the European champions Spain, they will join an exclusive club of teams to not only win the World Cup, but to defend it as well.
This a feat that has not been achieved in over 60 years. The last team to do it was Brazil in 1958 and 1962 with Pele, Garrincha and co. Before them there was only one other team – Italy won back-to-back championships in 1934 and 1938.
What to expect from England v Argentina?
Tonight’s semi-final will be an intriguing clash between two historic rivals but how do England fans think the game will go?
Does Messi have enough around him?
It is obvious that Messi has fully defied the odds by, at 39, carrying his team on his shoulders, scoring eight goals and securing a semi-final appearance for what might be seen as a weakened Argentina side.
This has been a workable tactic for every other game against the likes of Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland – but all of those games were probably too close for Argentina’s liking.
Coming against a team like England, one of the best teams in the world, it is uncertain if Messi will have the man power behind him to ward off a well balanced team like England.
The likes of Enzo Fernandez and Alex Mac Allister have been ample so far, but the centre back pairing of Martinez and Cristian Romero, whilst clutch at the other end of the pitch are prone to silly errors at the back.
Police out in numbers at Atlanta Stadium
Many reports ahead of the game focused on the mixing of the two sets of fans and the necessary security operation, but it’s all been friendly enough so far.
“Part of that could be down to the extent of the policing, of course. Helicopters are flying ahead and the local fire brigade, county police, state police and even DEA police are out in numbers in the areas surrounding the Atlanta Stadium.”
Morgan Rogers to start
It is being reported that Thomas Tuchel has favoured Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers on his right-flank over Noni Madueke who started against Norway.
Madueke look at sea at times against Norway, you can’t fault his attacking intent, but the end product was often not there. Rogers has proven week-in-week-out for Villa that he can produce and did so for England against Croatia, when given the chance.
He has since been a good feature but nothing ground breaking, hopefully he will prove to be another good playmaking threat to draw Argentinian players away from Kane and Bellingham.
Reece James to start at right back for England?
Another potential move from Thomas Tuchel is to switch out both of England’s full backs with Reece James and Djed Spence rumoured to be brought back into the starting XI.
That would mean Nico O’Reilly drops out and one of Ezri Konsa or John Stones who began the game against Norway.
Fans arriving at Atlanta Stadium
Fans from England and Argentina are arriving at the Atlanta Stadium ahead of this World Cup semi-final.
Build-up continues to kick off at 8pm with team news officially dropping inside the hour.
England’s reliance on Kane and Bellingham
At this World Cup so far Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham have scored a record 12/13 of England’s goals, save one from Rashford against Croatia.
That is 92.3% of all England Goals in the competition, which is a record for any team that has scored 10 goals or more.
Their closest competition are Hugi and Ballamann of Switzerland in 1954 who scored 90% of their teams goals.
It is also worth mentioning that the recently eliminated France had 13/16 goals scored by either Mbappe or Dembele which is the fourth highest on the list.
Many have criticised what they an call ‘over reliance’ on Kane and Bellingham, but what are world class players there for if not to be leant upon at the biggest tournament in the world?
