England, Argentina’s World Cup Semifinal Is So Much More Than ‘Just Another Match’

ATLANTA STADIUM — Perhaps Marc Guéhi simply refuses to think past Wednesday’s monster FIFA World Cup semifinal between his England and Lionel Messi’s Argentina. Maybe Guéhi, as a devout Christian, just doesn’t want to tempt fate. Or maybe the Three Lions center back genuinely has no idea if this star-studded England squad can do in the next five days what none before it has in almost 60 years: reach a World Cup final and take that sparkling golden trophy back home to the country that invented the planet’s most popular sport. “I don’t know — it’s in God’s hands,” Guéhi said when asked by a reporter on Tuesday if this might finally be England’s moment. “All I know is that we’re here right now, and we’re going to give everything that we have.” It’s going to take all they’ve got to beat the defending World Cup champs. Not only does La Albiceleste boast the incomparable Messi, who, at 39, leads the tournament with eight goals along with France’s Kylian Mbappé. (Les Bleus lost the other semifinal to Spain on Tuesday.) They also own the all-time series against England in the knockout stage of the World Cup, having knocked out their cross-Atlantic nemesis at both the 1986 and 1998 events. That’s ancient history, of course. None of the 26 men on Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup roster were born before the former; only a few were old enough to remember the latter. Yet every English soccer player — and every Argentine, too — grew up hearing about those games. Depending on their persuasion, they learned about how Diego Maradona scored either the greatest goal in World Cup history (his 60-yard slalom through what felt like England’s entire team) or the most infamous (the one he punched, undetected, into the English net and later dubbed the “Hand of God”). About how Diego Simeone, whose son is on this current Argentina squad, got David Beckham sent off en route to Argentina’s shootout win in the quarterfinals at France ’98. The history is there, whether either side wants to admit it. “That was before my time,” England defender Ezri Konsa said on Tuesday. “We just have to focus on ourselves, try and forget about the history.” Which makes sense. Still, Tuchel understands that when two of the most soccer-crazy nations on Earth meet, their shared history will always add a little extra spice — even in a match with so much at stake already. Or perhaps because of it. “I would say it’s irrelevant, but I’m not sure,” Tuchel said when asked if the history between the nations matters. “The players are very aware — of both countries — what it means to them. “You cannot just say it’s just another football match. “But as a coach, we do exactly that,” he continued. “We don’t speak about the historic events, but yeah, the magnitude of the match is just what it is. I think it does not help if we engage emotionally.” That said, Tuchel and his team “expect an emotional match, an intense match” on Wednesday, he said. “I expect a match with a lot of momentum swings.” And the wild card, naturally, is Messi. “How he carries that team is just absolutely incredible,” Tuchel said of the GOAT. “He is the key player in any team. “You see that they love to play in the middle of the pitch,” he added. “They’re playing through gaps, and once Leo Messi has the ball, the movement starts. If you analyze the matches, you feel like he sees stuff just earlier than anyone else on the field. It’s like the ball just drops to him, he finds the gap, he makes two meters space for his left foot, and then executes on the very highest level.” “So there’s a lot to take care of,” Tuchel concluded. “But we are here to play our way.” “It’s not just him on the field,” Guéhi said of Messi. “He’s got other really good players on the team.” England understands the assignment. To be the best, they have to beat the best. They’ve earned this opportunity. So will they crumble under the pressure, like each of their predecessors has over the last six decades? Or is this group of players truly different? “There’s so much to love about this England squad,” Tuchel said. “What I really like is, I feel in the last few days that the players are very excited, and they are hungry to play this match. We will be prepared for the best version of Argentina. We expect and hope and demand the best of ourselves. “Every team in the world is beatable,” the England manager said. “And so is Argentina.”