Holders Argentina fought back to overcome England 2-1 in the second semi-final to set up a 2026 World Cup final against Spain.
Anthony Gordon gave England the lead 10 minutes into the second-half, but rather than building on their advantage, the Three Lions swiftly ceded control of the game, allowing Argentina to dominate possession and eventually break English hearts with two late goals.
Argentina will now attempt to become only the third country to successfully win back-to-back World Cups, while England must somehow pick themselves up for an unwanted third-place match against France.
Read on for a selection of the best World Cup stats you might have missed from England vs Argentina, featuring the simply superb Lionel Messi.
Stats you might have missed from England vs Argentina
Messi’s outrageous numbers
Lionel Messi’s two assists against England means he now has 33 goal involvements on his World Cup CV, eight more than any other player in the tournament’s history.
Lionel Messi may not have scored in the semi-final victory over England but he did play a hugely influential role in his side’s comeback, setting up both the equaliser and the winner.
In total Messi had 94 touches, won 12 duels, was successful in nine of his 11 take-ons, had seven touches in the opposition box, and created four chances.
Messi’s two assists took his tally to four assists and eight goals at the 2026 tournament, which puts him just above Kylian Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot, which is decided on assists if players are level on goals.
As for Messi’s overall goal involvement tally, he now has accumulated an outrageous 33 goals and assists in 33 games at the World Cup, which is eight more goal involvements than any other player in history, with Mbappe his closest challenger on 25. Messi’s return of 21 goals is an all-time record, as is his new tally of 12 assists, 10 of which have come in the knockout stages.
Meanwhile, the 39-year-old has now scored or assisted in each of his last 13 matches for club and country. He now needs to continue this streak against Spain to equal the longest streak of his entire career, set back in 2011.
Semi-final perfection
- Argentina have a 100% record in World Cup semi-finals (six wins from six).
Argentina once again thrived under the pressure of a World Cup semi-final, having now advanced from each of their six semi-finals at the tournament. A remarkable record.
These successes have come in the 1930, 1986, 1990, 2014, 2022, and 2026 editions. When they first won the World Cup in 1978, it was a tournament that didn’t have semi-finals with the winner of each group advancing straight through to the final.
Semi-final pain
- Since the turn of the century, there have been only two instances of a country scoring first in a World Cup semi-final and going on to lose: England have suffered that fate on both occasions.
England have now lost each of their last three World Cup semi-finals, with their only win at this stage coming on home soil in 1966 when they won the tournament.
In the 21st century there are only two occasions when a country has scored first in the semi-finals, but gone on to lose the game. Unfortunately, it’s England this has happened to on both times.
Gareth Southgate’s side made the perfect start against Croatia in 2018 when Kieran Trippier curled home an early free-kick, only for Ivan Perisic to level after the break before Mario Mandzukic struck the extra-time winner to send Croatia through to the final.
History repeated itself in 2026. Anthony Gordon fired England ahead against Argentina in the 55th minute, but the Three Lions failed to capitalise on their advantage. The reigning world champions turned the game around with two late goals, condemning England to another heartbreaking World Cup semi-final exit after surrendering a winning position.
Back-to-back finals
- By reaching another World Cup final, Argentina have become only the sixth defending champion to make back-to-back finals.
Argentina’s comeback win over England saw the defending champions reach the World Cup final for the seventh time in their history, and third in the last four editions. Only Germany have reached more finals (8).
In the process, Argentina became only the sixth defending champions to make back-to-back finals, and now have the opportunity to become just the third side to retain the trophy after Italy in 1934 and 1938, and Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
Scaloni does it again
- Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni becomes only the seventh manager to reach two World Cup finals.
After winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni has become only the seventh manager in World Cup history to reach two World Cup finals after after Vittorio Pozzo (Italy: 1934 & 1938), Helmut Schon (Germany: 1966 & 1974), Mario Zagallo (Brazil: 1970 & 1998), Carlos Bilardo (Argentina: 1986 & 1990), Franz Beckenbauer (Germany: 1986 & 1990), and Didier Deschamps (France: 2018 & 2022).
Scaloni will now have the opportunity to become just the second manager, after Italy’s Pozzo, to win two World Cups.
12% possession
- England averaged just 12% possession between Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 55th minute and Lautaro Martinez’s winner in the 92nd minute.
Rather than pressing home their advantage after Anthony Gordon’s opener, England retreated into their shell, surrendering both the initiative and possession as Argentina gradually took complete control of the clash.
The statistics paint a damning picture of this. Between Gordon’s goal in the 55th minute and Lautaro Martinez’s winner in the 92nd, England averaged just 12% possession, with Argentina monopolising the ball for the remaining 88%.
England had just 35% of the ball in total during the game.
Meek Lions
- England registered just five shots, their lowest tally on record in a World Cup match (since data from 1966).
The game itself was initially starved of goalmouth action, becoming the first match on record at the tournament (since 1966) to have zero shots in the opening 30 minutes.
In fact, England only managed five shots during the whole 90 minutes – compared to Argentina’s 15 – which was their lowest tally in the last 60 years. Just two of those were on target.
England created just one big chance during the match – the goal – had one corner, and just seven touches in the Argentina box.
Top-10 struggles
- England have lost each of their last seven World Cup knockout matches against countries ranked inside the top 10.
England’s 2-1 defeat to Argentina extended an unwanted trend against the world’s top teams, with the Three Lions now having lost each of their last seven World Cup knockout matches against countries ranked inside the FIFA top 10 dating back to the 1998 World Cup, when they also lost to Argentina.
Despite impressive runs to the latter stages of recent major tournaments, England have repeatedly fallen just short when faced with the highest-ranked opposition on football’s biggest stage.
Perfect 14
- Argentina have now won 14 successive games in all competitions.
Argentina’s comeback win means they have now won 14 straight matches in all competitions, seven of which have been at the current World Cup.
They are unbeaten in 13 World Cup matches since a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opening game of the 2022 tournament.
Argentina haven’t lost since a 1-0 defeat to Ecuador in September, which is their only defeat in their last 22 games since November 2024.
Glut of goals
- Argentina have scored 19 goals at the 2026 World Cup, their highest-ever tally at a single edition of the tournament.
The goals have been flowing for Argentina this tournament, with 19 scored in their seven games to date – more than any other country. They have now eclipsed their highest ever tally of 18 at a single tournament, which was set 94 years ago at the 1930 World Cup.
Argentina also extended their own record of scoring 2+ goals in 13 successive World Cup matches.
Tuchel’s first competitive defeat
- Thomas Tuchel’s 14 game unbeaten start to life as England manager in competitive matches has come to an end.
Thomas Tuchel suffered his first competitive defeat in charge of England, which brought to an end his 14 game unbeaten run. In total he has 12 wins, one draw, and now one defeat from those matches.
It also means that another World Cup will go by without a foreign manager winning the World Cup in charge of a country that’s not his own.
Kane’s caps record
- Harry Kane has set a new record for most England caps (121) from an outfield player.
Harry Kane earned his 121st England cap against Argentina, which moved him clear of Wayne Rooney into top spot in the country’s all-time appearance list for outfield players. Only goalkeeper Peter Shilton (125) has represented England more times.
Kane is sure to equal and surpass Shilton at some point in the near future, with England next in action on Saturday against France, then they begin their Nations League campaign in September.
England’s small positive
- England have scored more goals at the 2026 World Cup (14) than at any other men’s major tournament.
We’ll end on a small positive for England. It might not feel like much right now, but Anthony Gordon’s goal means England have scored more goals at the 2026 World Cup (14) than at any other men’s major tournament. It’s a record they can enhance when they play France on Saturday.
Gordon also became the first player to score for England at the 2026 World Cup who played in the Premier League last season, while he’s the fourth England player to score in a World Cup semi-final after Bobby Charlton (1966), Gary Lineker (1990), and Kieran Trippier (2018).
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