2026 FIFA World Cup: Semifinals - Argentina vs. England

It's a simple equation, change the team, even the formation, to give yourself the best chance of beating England, now we may still lose, but at least we will have given ourselves the best chance to win. Or Scaloni sticks with the same team as against CV, Egypt, the Swiss and we go out like Portugal and Morocco ie just accepting your fate and settling for getting to the semi final.

 

It is funny... People act like England are this far and away amazing side ... They've drew Ghana, struggled with Congo, Mexico and Norway.

Basically, struggling with two African teams, freakin Mexico and Norway, where they were lucky to get away with a win.

We've been far from perfect but England is not a side that should strike fear into anybody's heart. They have issues just like we do...

 

I think Argentina’s fatigue makes them look far more vulnerable than they actually are, especially against physical, pacey teams. Many fans feel that Argentina had nightmares against Cape Verde, Egypt, and Switzerland.. and, to be fair, they have a point. Argentina struggled in all three matches. Even when the Swiss was down to 10-man, I wasn't comfortable.

I don’t think England are the better team. If they met earlier in the competition, I would have considered Argentina the clear favorites. However, unlike in 2022, Argentina seem to be getting much worse physically with each knockout match.They look more and more drained, and Switzerland also showed how Argentina, especially Messi, can be shut down by controlling the midfield. That’s why people now see them as very beatable.

At the same time, people wrongly assumed that Cape Verde, Egypt, and Switzerland would be easy opponents. Spain and Uruguay also struggled against Cape Verde. Egypt were all over Belgium during the group stage, while Switzerland eliminated a very strong Colombian side that had dominated Portugal and topped its group. These were clearly not weak teams.

Still, as I mentioned, fatigue is my main concern. If England scores first, Argentina may find it very difficult to recover. Scaloni needs to field a team that can better match England’s physicality and pace. Also, he cannot afford to wait too long to make substitutions regardless of whether Argentina are ahead or not if he is gonna start with the same team.

 

100% right. According to English pundits they are going to smash / destroy / batter us, you'd think they have won every game 5 nil playing the best football even seen, instead of scraping past teams playing dreadful football. Oh, and getting past Norway thanks to the ref (which we are not allowed to mention because FIFA have rigged world cup for Argentina). It's all about narrtives isn't, the media creates a narritve and they continue to push it despite it having nothing to do with reality. Both Aregtnina and England have conceded 6 goals in the tournament, yet they talk as if we have the worst defence of any team in the tournament. We have 17 goals to their 13. The English media constantly yapping out France's dodgy defence, they have conceded 2 goals, they just create their own reality.

 

Now imagine if Argentina beat Paraguay in round 32 merely from a penalty goal! Imagine the headlines!

When it happened to France, people were sayin... France barely played at their 2nd gear! . Yea, I guess they're saving their 2nd gear until Paraguay could possibly push them to a shootout?

The truth is, playing a different team in a different day would generates a very different scenario.

 

Are the Argentine media, former legends etc. putting any pressure on Scaloni, criticizing him or asking him to drop certain players and bring in fresher legs against England? or is he untouchable?

It’s interesting because he was so stubborn especially against Switzerland. The Swiss were all over Argentina in the second half, everyone could see their goal was coming, and still no substitution. It was so frustrating to watch.

 

People have brought up the fatigue factor since the Cabo Verde match. We rested most of our squad for the third match...So, all of a sudden we got tired because of CV? While I agree that the Miami humidity and the match going into ET did not help but I think our biggest problem is we have players like De Paul who are just far too slow to play at the highest level.

We went down about a minute after De Paul was subbed out but our energy as a team went up. Players like De Paul slow us down. The game v Swiss, there were several times I saw him make mistakes. There was a moment where he got turned in the first half, he tried to reach out to grab the player but was unable to do so... De Paul is the weak link in this group. We suffer in the midfield because of his slow play and turnovers. How this guy thinks he's some senior figure on the team while making the mistakes he makes is baffling. I really believe if he drops De Paul, our level will rise.

Do we have tired legs with Mac and Enzo and even Messi? I think so but as you mentioned, we do have fresh legs coming off the bench. Scaloni sees the midfield as the heart and soul of the team and does not want to make too many changes to disrupt the flow. This is why we are not seeing Barco, Paz or even Pala. It is Nico G, it is Montiel, it is the same cast of characters we always see. No spark, no creativity, no imagination from Scaloni. It baffles me that he is just so scared to make the proper changes. It is as clear as day. The biggest issue for a coach is getting too close emotionally to their players. It clouds their judgment. Loyalty is a ************************.. .

I think England will be equally as tired, traveling to Mexico then playing a 120+ minutes in Miami. They were accustomed to a bit more rest in-between rounds but now it is 3.5-4 days now. We've been playing like this since the KO stages started.

England will probably try to utilize Gordon on the wing and run at our players. I can already see it, so we need to prepare for that. But England is soft in the back. They easily can get to. In fact, DR Congo should've knocked them out. Just like every single one of our games, a bounce here or there, they could've been packing their bags.

 

Scaloni's gameplan

 

I'd rather win 1 nil against Paraguay with a pen than lose 2-1 to Norway in the last 16.

 

No one is gonna tell me these guys aren't the best fans in the world

🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/XZN9JjKDJW

— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) July 13, 2026

 

Yes, you and I were about the only ones on this board that supported Di Maria early on. Everyone else was talking about headless chicken and in Argentina he failed to get support cause he wasn't from Boca or River. Certainly after 2008 I thought Di Maria was our 2nd most important player. I'd say he was our best player in about one third or one fourth of matches.

 

I think it was more a lack of sharpness. Countless times RDP, Enzo, Mac Allister miscontrolled, got caught in possession, and messed up simple passes. Sure you need energy to recover the ball and to present yourself as an outlet to the marked man but it in this case more of a lack of technical quality in mid.

 

Yes, this youtuber is good.

England team analysis:

v Swizterland analaysis:

 

Montiel for Molina (who had his best match against Switzerland, failing to track his man on the goal notwithstanding) but the same muertos in midfield. Apparently, the MLS really is De Paul's current level, Mac Allister's dramatic drop in form as rumored by Liverpool fans is real, and Enzo is not quite as good as we had hoped.

 

The decision making is poor, highlighted by the absolutely brain dead back heel by Mac when he had a run on goal and Montiel not passing the ball to Alvarez when he would have been clean through on goal.

 

Montiel's shot was the most bizarre thing I've seen.

 

Calling it a shot is generous, more like kicking the ball out so the Swiss could have a goal kick. Utterly baffling.

 

One other thing. All our goals barring those against Egypt have been conceded down our flanks.

England love the flanks and crossing. We really need to defend those flanks. Plus have Senesi an aerially dominant defender in there. Romero is not so good and Licha well he has been exposed at times. More than ever Scaloni needs that 3-5-2.

Wake up and smell the mate Lionel......

 

That was Molina.....

Thing is Molina can score absolute belters from range but I have no idea what he was attempting there. A shot or cross. Julian was completely unmarked in the middle. Could have ended the game right there and then. We pressed so hard for the first 45 and just ran out of gas and then Scaloni thought the best thing to do was stick his hands in his pocketses. My precious he said.....

 

I've been very lucky to have been with them twice. Not so much Manchester which was a pretty poor show but the London match was so joyful vibrant and fun. A non stop party. Life affirming energy.

 

I've been lucky enough to see Argentina play in Buenos Aires, Paris, Berlin and London, without doubt the best set of fans out there.

 

Darn it, I'm always mixing up Molina and Montiel

 

RDP last good game with Argentina was in early 2025 againts Brazil. Messi seems to be sprinting more than him againts Switzerland. Messi & Enzo at least always to find an extra energy when we're chasing for goals. RDP looks like he wasnt even in the match.

 

We have to exploit that defence and take the chances when they present themselves. Messi and Julian in free roles. Just pull them out of position.

The hunt Kane will be doing the same for them so someone needs to pick him up in midfield and defence. A 3-5-2 would be great for him. And we need someone to keep an eye on Bellingbum and his runs from the top of midfield.

 

Let's hope so. Some of the greatest generals in history like Belisarius loved springing surprises. You can bet Count Orlok will have been preparing for the same formation and players we have used.

Imagine Scaloni announces the team an hour before the match.... Panic stations in the England coaching staff.

For the love of God Scaloni stop being so obstinate and do what is best for the team and country and supporters. We've never lost a semi-final and we don't want this one to be the first especially against England of all teams.