Scaloni vows Argentina will give everything against England

Argentina and England were scheduled to meet at Atlanta Stadium, also known as Mercedes-Benz Stadium, on Wednesday at 15:00 local time, 20:00 in London and 16:00 in Buenos Aires, with the winner moving on to the final in New York and New Jersey on July 19. Lionel Scaloni said Argentina had the “ilusión intacta” and would leave “hasta la última gota de sudor” to reach that stage, while warning that it would be “una locura” to treat the match as anything more than a World Cup semifinal.

Argentina arrived in Atlanta as the defending champion after a 3-1 extra-time win over Switzerland that carried the team back into the last four. Alexis Mac Allister had levelled the match after a Lionel Messi corner, and then Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez settled it in extra time. Scaloni thanked the squad for carrying Argentina into “otra vez” another semifinal and said the team had to give “un valor enorme” to what it had achieved so far.

England came through its quarter-final 2-1 against Norway, with Jude Bellingham scoring both goals. Harry Kane was also part of the challenge that Argentina had been preparing for, as England chased a first World Cup final since 1966.

The matchup carried a long World Cup history. Argentina and England had not met in a World Cup since 2002. Before that, they drew 2-2 in the round of 16 in France in 1998, when Argentina advanced on penalties, and England won 1-0 in the group stage in Korea and Japan in 2002.