After more than two decades at the highest level of international football, Argentina captain Lionel Messi is preparing for a unique milestone when the reigning champions face England in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals on Wednesday.

Remarkably, despite facing virtually every major football power during his illustrious career, Messi has never played against England at senior international level.

The highly anticipated showdown in Atlanta will therefore mark the first meeting between the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and the Three Lions.

Messi vs England: The Missing Opponent

Messi has faced fellow World Cup winners Brazil, Uruguay, Germany, Italy, Spain and France during his international career, but England has remained the notable exception.

The last time Argentina and England met was in a friendly in Geneva on November 12, 2005, which England won 3-2 after coming from behind through a Wayne Rooney strike and a Michael Owen brace.

Messi was absent from that encounter. Earlier that year, he had been sent off just 47 seconds into his senior Argentina debut against Hungary and was not part of the squad that travelled to Switzerland.

According to the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Wednesday’s semi-final is “the match fate owed Messi.”

World Cup Legacy Continues

The encounter comes as Messi continues to add to an already unmatched World Cup résumé.

Messi’s World Cup Records

• 32 World Cup appearances (all-time record)
• 15 knockout-stage appearances (all-time record)
• World Cup winner in Qatar 2022
• Appearing in his sixth World Cup
• Argentina unbeaten in their last 12 World Cup matches

Messi provided the assist for Alexis Mac Allister’s opening goal in Argentina’s 3-1 extra-time quarter-final victory over Switzerland, although it was the first World Cup match in which he failed to score since Argentina’s 2-0 group-stage win over Poland at Qatar 2022.

Road to the Semi-finals

Argentina’s path to the last four has been far from straightforward.

The defending champions required extra time to defeat Cape Verde 3-2 in the Round of 32 before producing a dramatic comeback against Egypt in the Round of 16, overturning a 2-0 deficit with only 11 minutes remaining to win 3-2.

Against Switzerland, Lionel Scaloni’s side again needed extra time before eventually prevailing 3-1.

Messi Looking Ahead

Following the victory over Switzerland, Messi acknowledged the magnitude of the challenge awaiting Argentina.

“It’s special because they’re a great team, a powerhouse, and it’s always nice to play a team like that, a match of this kind,” Messi said.

“We need to rest because we come from a lot of wear and tear, which the group obviously feels, and arrive in the best possible condition to keep doing what we’ve been doing: competing.”

Rivalry Renewed

Beyond Messi’s personal milestone, the match rekindles one of international football’s most storied rivalries.

Argentina and England have produced some of the World Cup’s most memorable contests, including the quarter-final at Mexico 1986 featuring Diego Maradona’s famous “Hand of God” goal and the “Goal of the Century,” as well as England’s penalty shootout victory at France 1998.

The latest chapter will carry added significance as Messi finally takes his place in a fixture that has shaped Argentine football history for generations.

Factfile: Lionel Messi vs England

• Age: 39
• Country: Argentina
• Senior Argentina debut: August 2005 vs Hungary
• Matches against England: 0
• First meeting: Expected in World Cup semi-final, July 15, 2026
• World Cup appearances: 32 (record)
• World Cup knockout appearances: 15 (record)
• World Cup titles: 1 (Qatar 2022)
• World Cups played: 6
• Current tournament: FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finalist

When Argentina and England meet in Atlanta, Messi will finally tick off the last major international opponent missing from one of football’s most complete careers.

 

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• Summary
• FIFA will examine the issue in committees after this World Cup
• A 64-team format would create 16 groups of four teams
• Longer tournaments and logistics could limit the number of potential hosts
• Infantino defends ticket prices and hydration breaks

 

 

Any further expansion of the World Cup, increasing the ​number of teams participating at the finals to 64, will be discussed after this year’s edition, FIFA president Gianni Infantino ‌said without providing any details.

The 2026 finals in Canada, Mexico, and the United States have seen 48 teams for the first time, a decision that was heavily criticised but which has not provoked much debate since the tournament kicked off on June 11.

“These are all issues that we will be examining after the World Cup,” Infantino, who ​successfully pushed for the expansion of the finals from 32 teams, told Swiss television outlet Blue Sport.

He did not elaborate, saying only: “I ​think it is important that when you want to tilizat a World Cup, you do it for the whole ⁠world — not just Europe and South America, but effectively the entire world.

“Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup. ​You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high and it’s getting higher and higher, all over the world.

“If you don’t give ​smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving.”

Infantino hailed the 48-team tournament as a success, saying: “Every team played at a high level. Teams from every continent scored goals and earned at least one point.

“Nine out of 10 African teams reached the knockout stage. At the last World ​Cup, there were only five teams from Africa. That just goes to show how important it is to include all teams, to give them ​this opportunity to participate,” he added.

The size of the World Cup field was increased to 32 teams in 1998. The next finals in 2030 are to be co-hosted ‌by Morocco, ⁠Portugal and Spain, and the 2034 tournament will be in Saudi Arabia.

INFANTINO DEFENDS HYDRATION BREAKS AND TICKET PRICES

Infantino, who rarely gives media interviews and has limited his number of formal press conferences, admitted that introducing hydration breaks during each half, which many have seen as a cynical attempt to help television partners get more advertising revenue, had proved controversial.

“This is a topic that sparks a lot of debate. After all, we don’t want to get ​everything perfect; we like to give ​everyone something to disagree with… ⁠no, joking aside. Last year, during the Club World Cup in the USA, there were cooling breaks whenever it was very hot.

“These short breaks occurred in about 60% of the matches but not in the other 40% ​because the temperature wasn’t as high. There were many complaints, as the feeling was that all teams should ​face the same ⁠conditions,” he said.

He also defended the high ticket prices at the World Cup, saying: “The stadiums are full; capacity tilization is at 99.7% and it will likely reach 99.9% by the end.

“Experts determined the ticket prices before the tournament. Our experts worked on that and told us: ‘These are the prices you can go with’. ⁠We see ​the proof now: prices that some people claimed were too high are being resold ​on the secondary market —which is perfectly legal here — for four or five times the original cost.”

Infantino said he expected FIFA to generate a total of 13 to 14 billion Swiss francs ($16.08 ​billion to $17.32 billion) from the 39-day World Cup. “That is quite satisfactory,” he said.

-Reuters

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BY KUNLE SOLAJA, BROOKLYN

The quarter-final clash between Argentina and Switzerland in Arlington on Saturday entered the record books not only for the holders’ dramatic 3-1 extra-time victory, but also as the 100th match of the projected 104-game FIFA World Cup 2026.

With only the two semi-finals, the third-place play-off and the final remaining, the tournament has now reached a significant milestone in its first edition featuring an expanded 48-team format and 104 matches.

Argentina ensured that the landmark encounter would be remembered for sporting reasons as well, overcoming a resilient Swiss side after extra time to continue their defence of the title they won in Qatar four years ago.

The victory extended several impressive records for Lionel Scaloni’s team. Argentina have now won all three of their FIFA World Cup meetings with Switzerland, having previously triumphed 2-0 in the group stage in 1966 and 1-0 after extra time in the Round of 16 at Brazil 2014.

La Albiceleste are also unbeaten in their last 12 World Cup matches, winning 10 and drawing two, the longest unbeaten run in the nation’s history at the tournament. Their success over Switzerland was also their sixth consecutive World Cup victory, another national record.

Perhaps even more remarkably, Argentina have now scored at least two goals in each of their last 12 World Cup matches, surpassing the previous tournament benchmark set by Uruguay between 1930 and 1954.

The encounter further strengthened Argentina’s reputation as masters of extra-time football. It was the 13th World Cup match in which they have required an additional 30 minutes, more than any other nation. They have now won 11 of those 13 extra-time contests, ahead of Germany on 12 and Italy and England on 11.

Captain Lionel Messi added another chapter to his extraordinary World Cup legacy. The 39-year-old became the first player ever to make 15 appearances in World Cup knockout matches, moving ahead of Germany legend Miroslav Klose’s previous mark of 14.

Messi also stretched his all-time World Cup appearance record to 32 matches. Cristiano Ronaldo is second on the list with 27 appearances, followed by Lothar Matthäus (25), Miroslav Klose (24), and Paolo Maldini, Manuel Neuer and Luka Modrić on 23 each.

Among Argentina’s scorers, Alexis Mac Allister found the net in a second World Cup edition, having also scored against Poland during the group stage in Qatar 2022. Julián Alvarez continued his reputation as a big-game performer by taking his World Cup tally to five goals, with four of his last five coming in knockout-stage matches.

For Switzerland, the defeat ended an impressive run that had seen them lose only once in their previous 19 matches. It was also the first time Murat Yakin’s side had trailed in a game at the 2026 World Cup.

Despite the disappointment, Dan Ndoye reached a personal milestone by scoring his 10th international goal for Switzerland, with half of those strikes coming on North American soil.

Swiss coach Murat Yakin also joined an exclusive club, becoming only the second manager to oversee Switzerland in 10 FIFA World Cup matches, matching the tally achieved by Karl Rappan across the 1938, 1954 and 1962 tournaments.

As the 100th match of the competition concluded, Argentina moved within two victories of retaining the World Cup trophy, while the tournament itself edged closer to the completion of its historic 104-match schedule. Only four matches now remain before the curtain falls on the largest FIFA World Cup ever staged.

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