2026 World Cup: Spain shock empty-handed France into final; England v Argentina build-up – live | 2026 World Cup
Important events
Our pundit Andrew Beasley on why England should still be wary of 39-year-old Leo Messi’s running ability:
double quotation mark And when Messi hits high speed, he can still travel at a decent speed. Data on Sofascore shows his fastest run in this World Cup was 30.9 km/h. That’s faster than any run Lautaro Martínez (30.5) or Alexis Mac Allister (30.2) has done for Argentina, despite being more than a decade younger. Not too far from Kane (31.4) or Jude Bellingham (31.1) who gave either.
And Barney Ronay’s scene-setter:
double quotation mark There are shared qualities here. Both countries are part of that list of places where football ranks extremely high in the national sense of well-being. And on the field these two teams played well; or rather, not really teams, but interesting collections of parts dragged to this point by star players and the return of wild eyes, emotions as opposed to processing.No matter what happens in Atlanta, it is unlikely to be rational, cold or free from some episodes of whiplash. England have been on the edge in their last two games. Argentina have at least half of their squad desperate to tackle. High quality VAR screen bothering anyone? The third 50/50 moment with Cristian Romero? Emi Martínez on penalties against England? Never worry about shithousery. Expect a shitmansion, a shitman’s palace.
World Cup Every Day it fell, and I’m listening to it as I write. Turn your ears now. There’s a lot to chew on, including Philippe Auclair saying that for the first time the majority of the world is backing England in a game against Argentina, which could wake up students in Glasgow, Dublin, Cardiff etc.
The last half-time lasts 30 minutes
Fans in the final they will have the opportunity to down an extra pint on the pitch, while their children effectively abuse them for another tub of popcorn, half an hour will last half an hour, confirms Fifa. This will create enough time for a highly acclaimed Superbowl-esque halftime show where the likes of Shakira, Justin Bieber and Madonna will perform hits. Or maybe they won’t play the hits – maybe they’ll screw it up and try some unreleased experimental session tracks. We can trust.
Background
Say hello to everyoneand welcome to the big day of the World Cup. We’ll be covering everything from the England v Argentina semi-final throughout the day, but we need to talk about last night first right? Yes, Spain are in the final after producing, if not a shocker, at least an unscripted, World Cup that sometimes feels too scripted. Last night’s payoff did not have France to appear as one of the changing plans.
But Spain were champions, on and off the ball (and it was their incredible ability to keep the ball), backed by impeccable midfield play from Fabián Ruiz and Rodri. The whole team did not put a foot wrong, and Pedro Porro, who scored the second goal, has become the unexpected hero of Spain.
It all means we have the chance of a major tournament final between Spain and England for the fourth summer in a row, followed by the Women’s World Cup in 2023, the Men’s Euros in 2024 and the Women’s Euros last year. But England have a big job to do first.
Anyway, here are your key takeaways from the game in Dallas:
