分类： sports

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – As the final whistle blew on a heart-stopping 2-1 World Cup semi-final victory over England in Atlanta on Wednesday, waves of ecstatic Argentine soccer fans poured into the capital’s downtown streets, turning a cold winter evening into a collective outpouring of national joy decades in the making.

From the towering Obelisk monument to downtown plazas, fans turned the city into a sea of the iconic light blue and white of Argentina’s flag. Screams of celebration mixed with tears of emotion, as the most fervent revelers sprinted shirtless through steady rain, while young fans climbed lamp posts and traffic signals to wave national banners high. The party, fans confirmed, would rage long into the night, undeterred by the dropping winter temperatures.

The match’s deciding moment came two minutes into stoppage time, when Lautaro Martinez slotted home the winning goal, punching the defending 2022 World Cup champions’ ticket to Sunday’s final against Spain. For many of the thousands gathered at the Obelisk, the win meant far more than a spot in the sport’s biggest match. The rivalry between Argentina and England extends far beyond the soccer pitch, rooted in the decades-long dispute over the Falkland Islands – called the Malvinas by Argentina, which claims the territory as its own sovereign land – and the 1982 Falklands War, where an Argentine military dictatorship’s failed attempt to retake the islands left 649 Argentine soldiers, most of them young, under-resourced conscripts, dead.

“This is not just about football, it’s about beating the country that broke our hearts,” said 40-year-old Maria Bertero. “My heart still aches for all the young boys who were sent to their deaths.” As she spoke, the pain of history softened into unbridled joy for Wednesday’s result: “It’s tremendous. It’s magic. It makes me proud to be Argentine.”
Even a 48-year-old Catholic nun, Rosana Beto Cruz, joined the throng of strangers jumping and dancing together around the Obelisk. “The World Cup, our national team, it makes this happen,” she said, marveling at the spontaneous unity of the crowd.

The result has not been without controversy online, where unsubstantiated conspiracy theories have circulated claiming FIFA and match referees colluded to advance superstar Lionel Messi and Argentina to the final, fueled by several contentious in-game decisions. But the baseless claims did nothing to dampen the euphoria on Buenos Aires’ streets.

Jorge Luis Lema, 38, who watched the match at a downtown bar, recalled the crowd’s somber mood through most of the game, until Enzo Fernandez’s unstoppable 85th-minute strike turned tension into pure celebration. “All this talk about it being fixed, about FIFA being involved, have they even looked at what’s happening on the field? How much we’ve suffered? It’s a lie. Football is football. Whoever wins, wins. And Argentina won once again,” Lema said.

The soccer rivalry between the two nations dates back to the 1986 World Cup, when Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal and his iconic “Goal of the Century” carried Argentina to a legendary quarter-final victory over England, cementing the match-up as a symbolic clash beyond sport. Now, 39-year-old Messi – who spent years bearing the weight of Maradona’s legacy before claiming Argentina’s first World Cup title in 36 years at the 2022 Qatar tournament – has once again exceeded the nation’s sky-high expectations, fans said.

“Seeing Messi playing football like this, at his age, it just leaves me speechless,” said Matías Adorno, 28, wearing a Messi jersey in central Buenos Aires’ main fan gathering plaza. “As Argentines, we’ve always put so much pressure on him. But he’s achieved everything I could imagine.”

Chants of “For the Malvinas, for Diego, for Leo’s last tournament” echoed through the crowds, with fans bouncing in unison to the decades-old war-era chant “El que no salta es un ingles” – “Whoever doesn’t jump is an Englishman.”
Beyond soccer and historical rivalry, the night of celebration served as a rare moment of national unity for a country deeply polarized by the radical libertarian presidency of Javier Milei, and wearied by repeated cycles of crippling economic crisis that have sent living costs soaring.

“It is just pure joy, especially given the really bad moment we’re going through now, with life being so expensive, with this president who’s dividing us,” said Yanina Quinteros, celebrating with her 6-year-old daughter perched on her shoulders. “Tonight, we’re together. All of us, grandparents, children, mothers, fathers, we’re all just here to celebrate tonight.”

ATLANTA — Argentine soccer supporters have long held a reputation for their unbridled, raucous devotion to their national men’s team, and that unwavering, electric passion turned Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium into a home-field advantage for the side during their dramatic 2025 FIFA World Cup semifinal clash against England.

Though thousands of miles from Buenos Aires, the overwhelmingly pro-Argentina crowd turned the venue into a sea of light blue and white, serenading their players with constant chants, traditional folk songs, and deafening roars that echoed through the stadium from the opening kickoff to the final whistle.

The energy boiled over into unbridled celebration in the 85th minute, when Enzo Fernandez slotted home the equalizing goal off a precision assist from captain Lionel Messi. The eruption of joy sent cups and water bottles flying from the upper concourse down to the field level, dousing sections of the stands as fans jumped and screamed. Fans ripped off their shirts and swung them wildly over their heads, and the cheering showed no signs of fading even minutes after Lautaro Martinez netted the game-winning goal to seal a 2-1 come-from-behind victory for Argentina.

After the final whistle, Messi, Fernandez and other players celebrated by parading around the pitch shirtless, drinking in the chaotic, joyful atmosphere as the crowd continued to roar, neither the fans nor the players willing to let the iconic moment end.

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni called the fan support unmatched, speaking to reporters after the win. “No words, no words. A joy for our country, for our people,” Scaloni said. “We are unique, truly, and it’s not arrogance, it’s from the heart. We are unique. These people today carried us to win the match, so I’m grateful.”

It was only after security personnel began moving through the stands, blowing whistles to guide exiting crowds, that the massive throng of Argentine supporters began slowly making their way toward the stadium exits.

Gaston Reinoso, an Argentine expatriate who traveled from Houston to Atlanta to attend the match, said the fan base’s collective passion defies simple explanation. “It’s really hard to explain the passion that these fans have,” Reinoso said. “When you are Argentinian, you feel soccer like religion. This may be everything for you. You can see an event like this, it’s a moment when people forget about religion, politics, everything. Everyone is united. This is Argentina, there’s nothing like it.”

While Argentine fan bases have drawn criticism for unruly conduct at some past World Cup tournaments, Reinoso said the city of Atlanta has welcomed the team and its supporters with open arms throughout the tournament, even as the side has repeatedly fallen behind early before rallying for wins. Slow, underwhelming starts have become a pattern for Argentina in this World Cup, Reinoso noted, but that has done nothing to weaken the fan base’s steadfast support.

Wednesday’s match marked a return to Atlanta, the site of one of the tournament’s most dramatic earlier comeback wins for Argentina: a 3-2 victory over Egypt in the group stage. Pulling off another unlikely late comeback with two goals in the closing minutes, fans sent cascades of water flying through the stadium in celebration.

“It was like a spray from God, from the sky,” Reinoso said of the flying water. “I started crying.”

Next up for Argentina is a spot in the World Cup final, scheduled for this Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where they will face off against Spain for the global title. Few would bet against a massive turnout of blue-and-white clad Argentine supporters in the stands, bringing their signature passion to the sport’s biggest stage.

Four years ago in Qatar 2022, the world believed Lionel Messi had written the final chapter of his World Cup story. At 35, the Argentine icon lifted the sport’s biggest prize, confirming his status as football’s undisputed greatest and announced the tournament would be his last. What no one predicted was that four years later, at 39, he would deliver one of the most devastating performances in World Cup semifinal history, crushing England’s title hopes and booking Argentina a spot in their second consecutive World Cup final.

The stage was set in Atlanta for Messi’s first ever career meeting with England — a fixture Three Lions fans and manager Thomas Tuchel would quickly come to regret. A gritty, attritional first half saw the veteran operate in a more central role, showing only flashes of his trademark quality. That changed after Anthony Gordon put England ahead in the 55th minute. When Tuchel opted to bring on extra defenders and drop his side into a deep block, Argentina dominated 88% of possession over the next 37 minutes, and Messi, shifted out to the right wing, turned the tie into a one-man show.

The statistical breakdown of Messi’s performance defies belief. He completed nine successful dribbles — more than the entire England side combined, which managed just seven. He recorded seven touches in the opposition penalty area, matching the total of every English player on the pitch. He created four scoring chances, put in nine game-high crosses, and delivered the two decisive assists that turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 come-from-behind win. He is the first player since record-keeping began in 1966 to notch nine dribbles and two assists in a single World Cup knockout match.

Messi’s first assist came from a well-rehearsed corner routine in the 85th minute, finding Enzo Fernandez unmarked on the edge of the box to slam home the equaliser. Then, in stoppage time, he delivered a pinpoint cross that Lautaro Martinez nodded into the back of the net for the winning goal, sending Argentina through to Sunday’s final in New Jersey against Spain — the country where Messi spent the bulk of his club career with Barcelona.

This 2026 tournament has cemented Messi’s unprecedented World Cup legacy. Already the tournament’s all-time top scorer with 21 World Cup goals — 15 of which have come after his 35th birthday — he has notched eight goals at this edition, tying Kylian Mbappe for the tournament lead. With four assists to Mbappe’s three, he holds the advantage in the Golden Boot tiebreaker, and is just one assist behind tournament leader Michael Olise, putting him in contention for both the top scorer and top assister honors.

What makes this run all the more remarkable is the unlikely journey that brought Messi to this point. Back in 2016, at 29, a heartbroken Messi retired from international football after losing the 2014 World Cup final and three consecutive Copa America finals. He reversed that decision, went on to win two Copas America, and lifted the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — a moment that seemed to complete his career. When he left European football for Inter Miami in MLS a year later, the general assumption was he would wind down his career far from the biggest international stages. Even 12 months ago, few expected him to feature at this 2026 tournament.

Now, he has reinvented his game once again. Biographer and football journalist Guillem Balague notes Messi has overhauled his tactical approach at least five times throughout his career, and this tournament is no exception: before the England match, he had walked 47% of the total distance he covered across the tournament — the highest share of any outfield player, conserving energy for the moments that matter. He has now scored or assisted in 13 consecutive matches for club and country; a goal involvement in Sunday’s final against Spain will tie his 2011 record of 14 straight games with a goal contribution, and he will become only the second player in history, after Cafu, to feature in three World Cup finals.

Footballing figures across the globe have poured praise on Messi after the semifinal masterclass. Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said: “He’s the best player in history, I don’t know what else he would have to do to prove that. The majority of Spaniards love him.” BBC pundit and former England defender Micah Richards added: “They have Lionel Messi. They have the ‘GOAT’. The greatest of all time. We thought it could have been Jude Bellingham or Harry Kane, but this is why he is the king. He walks around the pitch and then he comes alive when the ball comes to his feet. This genius comes into play and sometimes that is just the difference.”

England captain Harry Kane acknowledged Messi’s match-winning quality, saying: “For large parts of the game we dealt with him really well, but as always with the most dangerous players in the world when they have the ball they can create something. He’s one of the best players ever for a reason.” Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart pointed to England’s tactical choice that opened the door for Messi: “The guys went back to what they did against Mexico and Norway where they locked the door. What that did was free up Lionel Messi, who had the skeleton key – he absolutely ran the show for the last 15 minutes.”

Many had assumed 2022 would be Messi’s final World Cup, and even after this run, logic suggests 2030 — when Messi will turn 43 — is too far out. But for an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner who has defied every expectation and prediction at this stage of his career, one thing is clear: no one should dare presume what comes next for the greatest player the game has ever seen.

A stunning late comeback victory for defending champions Argentina over England in the 2026 World Cup semi-final has been overshadowed by a provocative political gesture that now puts the South American side at risk of formal disciplinary action from global football governing body Fifa. Playing in Atlanta, Argentina overturned a 1-0 deficit to score two late goals, securing a 2-1 win over Thomas Tuchel’s England side and booking their place in Sunday’s tournament final against Spain.

What should have been a moment purely of sporting celebration quickly turned controversial, when members of the Argentina squad unfurled a banner emblazoned with the phrase “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” — translated as “The Falklands are Argentine” — a reference to the long-running sovereignty dispute over the South Atlantic territory. The Falkland Islands, a self-governing British Overseas Territory located around 300 miles off Argentina’s eastern coast, has been contested by Buenos Aires and London for decades. The disagreement erupted into open armed conflict in 1982, when Argentine forces invaded the islands, leading to a 74-day war that claimed the lives of 655 Argentine servicemen, 255 British military personnel, and three civilian residents of the islands.

This is not the first time Argentine football authorities have faced sanction from Fifa over this exact gesture. Back in 2014, the Argentine Football Association was fined £20,000 after players displayed the same slogan on a banner ahead of a friendly match against Slovenia. Fifa ruled at the time that the action violated its regulations banning political statements and player misconduct.

In the wake of Wednesday’s semi-final win, senior Argentine political figures have publicly backed the team’s gesture. Argentina’s vice-president Victoria Villarruel took to social media platform X to write that the match “wasn’t just another match”, pairing her post with a video appearing to show Argentine service members. “The Falklands are Argentine,” she added. “They banned bringing them to the stadium and forgot that we carry them in our blood and our hearts.” In pre-match comments, Villarruel had already framed the fixture as an opportunity “to put the invaders in their place”, stoking political tensions ahead of kickoff.

This is not the first incident of its kind during Argentina’s 2026 World Cup run: following the team’s dramatic 3-2 round of 16 victory over Egypt, players sang chants referencing the Falkland Islands alongside tributes to Argentine legends Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi.

Notably, Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni had explicitly stated ahead of the semi-final that he refused to conflate football and politics. “The reality is that this is a football match. I can’t mix things up, especially out of respect for what happened so many years ago,” Scaloni told reporters ahead of the game. “It was a very sad period in our history, and there isn’t much we can do about it, that’s the reality. Things are happening elsewhere in the world, and we criticise the existence of war. We certainly remember those people, of course. But it is a football match – we shouldn’t confuse the two.”

Due to longstanding historical tensions between the two nations, the semi-final was already held under heightened security measures, with organizers preparing for potential unrest surrounding the high-stakes fixture. The match was ultimately decided by late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez, who turned the game on its head to send Argentina through to the final, leaving England eliminated from the tournament at the semi-final stage. Fifa has yet to announce the timeline or details of any disciplinary proceedings against Argentina following the banner protest.

ATLANTA — In a stunning, last-minute turnaround at the World Cup semifinals, Argentina pulled off a dramatic 2-1 victory over England on Wednesday, booking their ticket to the tournament final against Spain courtesy of two late goals set up by legend Lionel Messi. The result leaves England’s decades-long dream of reaching their first World Cup final since 1966 in tatters, and has put head coach Thomas Tuchel’s late-game tactical choices under intense scrutiny.

England had held a solid 1-0 lead since Anthony Gordon found the back of the net in the 55th minute, and looked poised to hold onto the advantage through the final whistle. As the clock wound down, Tuchel made a series of adjustments intended to fortify England’s goalmouth and defend their one-goal advantage: the manager shifted to a five-back formation, substituting defender Reece James for Dan Burn in the 82nd minute, and swapping midfielder Declan Rice for defender Nico O’Reilly to add more aerial presence to the box.

Tuchel later explained the decision, noting that England had been repeatedly vulnerable to Argentina’s crossing attacks early in the half. “They won every header. They kept crossing and crossing. So we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be stronger in the air,” he said, acknowledging full responsibility for the result. “Straight after our goal, with no substitutions, we just conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances. So we tried to help. But of course the responsibility is on the coach. And … if it doesn’t go well, it’s easy to say that it was wrong.”

The tactical shift failed to contain Messi, who orchestrated Argentina’s late surge with masterful play. Just three minutes after Tuchel’s substitutions, the Argentine star played a sharp pass into the path of Enzo Fernandez just outside the 18-yard box. England’s defenders failed to close down the midfielder, who fired a curling precise right-footed strike that left diving goalkeeper Jordan Pickford with no chance, equalizing the score in the 85th minute.

Argentina kept piling on the pressure as England’s deep-block defense continued to crack. After hitting the crossbar and wasting another close header opportunity, Messi delivered yet another perfect cross in the second minute of stoppage time. England defenders lost track of striker Lautaro Martinez, who powered a close-range header into the net to secure the winning goal.

Martinez attributed the comeback to England’s tactical choice to drop deep and defend their lead after taking the lead, which drained the English side of energy and gave Argentina room to work. “They got tired. They pressed for 60 minutes and then just ran out of steam. They got their goal and then sat back. That gave us more composure to move the ball around and stretch the pitch,” Martinez said.

England captain and striker Harry Kane reflected on the devastating loss, noting that the team’s decision to prioritize defending after taking the lead ultimately cost them a spot in the final. “We played a good game for the large majority of it. Once we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on, which at this level is not enough,” Kane said. “Just gutted, gutted. Because we’ve worked so hard to get here.”

Per data from statistics firm Opta, this defeat marks only the second time this century that the team that scored first in a World Cup semifinal went on to miss out on the final. The first time also involved England, in their 2018 semifinal loss to Croatia. Argentina will now face Spain, led by young star Lamine Yamal, in the World Cup title match this Sunday.