Match report
Argentina stun England with late double at Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Argentina came from behind to beat England 1-2 in the World Cup semi-final at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, overturning a second-half deficit with two goals in the closing minutes. The result ended England's unbeaten run in the tournament and sent Lionel Scaloni's side through to the final.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
England had gone ahead on 55 minutes when Anthony Gordon converted a Morgan Rogers assist to put the hosts in front. The lead held until deep into the second half, with Argentina struggling to make their possession count until Enzo Fernández levelled in the 85th minute, finishing off a pass from Lionel Messi. Argentina then completed the turnaround in stoppage time, Lautaro Martínez netting in the 90+2nd minute from another Messi assist to seal it.
Argentina dominated territorially throughout, holding 64 percent of possession and outshooting England 15 to 5, with five shots on target to England's two. Their expected goals figure of 1.84 against England's 0.53 reflected the gulf in created chances, even though it was England who struck first.
Messi supplied the assists for both of Argentina's late goals, setting up Fernández's equaliser and then Martínez's winner to finish with a rating of 8.0.
Argentina's dominance was underlined by a 64 percent share of possession against England's 36.
Argentina won 2–1 away against England (half-time 0–0).
England met Argentina in the World Cup (Semi-finals). Kick-off was Wednesday, 15 July 2026, 19:00 UTC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Referee: Ismail Elfath.
Key moments
- 55' Goal: Anthony Gordon (assist: Morgan Rogers) — 1–0 · Watch Anthony Gordon's goal video (55')
- 85' Goal: Enzo Fernández (assist: Lionel Messi) — 1–1 · Watch Enzo Fernández's goal video (85')
- 90' Goal: Lautaro Martínez (assist: Lionel Messi) — 1–2 · Watch Lautaro Martínez's goal video (90')
Starting line-ups
England (4-2-3-1)
Argentina (4-1-4-1)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave England 31%, the draw 27%, Argentina 42%. It finished England 1–2 Argentina.
Argentina's rating edge on neutral ground — Argentina are the stronger side on our strength rating, and neutral ground on top gives Argentina the lean. The draw at 27% is about what a gap this size usually leaves.
Why Argentina at 42%?
Argentina sit 75 points higher on our strength rating — 2075 to 2149. Sides with a 50–100-point rating edge on the road won 32.9% of 10,419 such games. World Cup is played on neutral grounds: England are the listed home side but get none of the usual home lift, so the class read is re-centred. On grounds we detect as neutral, listed-home sides won 44.6% of 26,596 games vs 45.2% at real homes — so a tournament game away from a side's own ground scores the class edge venue-free, as the average of the home and away reads.
Why only 42%?
No scored evidence points the other way. 42% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 27% and England at 31%.
Why the draw at 27%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 28.4%. These teams' recent games average 2.9 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.5% of 24,557.
What did we measure but not count?
England scored +0.67 goals per game beyond chance-quality — home sides this hot gave some of it back. Opponents of hot-finishing home sides won 28.1% of 1,425 games, vs 28.0% against normal finishing. England have 21 fully-tracked matches with us — under our usual 25-game bar — but their strength rating is anchored to the official international ratings list, which carries their full international history into the number. National sides play too few games for a record built from scratch, so their rating chain starts from the published international ratings instead of a blind first guess.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
What the press said
🚨🚨 ARGENTINA BEAT ENGLAND AND FLY TO WORLD CUP FINAL! 🇦🇷🇦🇷 https://t.co/H9nU5pMjvc
❤️ 66kopen on X ↗
FT: England 1 Argentina 2. Lautaro Martínez heads Argentina into the World Cup Final. Two late goals from Lionel Scaloni's side set up a game against Spain on July 19. Enzo Fernandez equalised with five minutes left with a brilliant strike from distance from Lionel Messi's assist. Messi then crossed for Martinez to win it. England took the lead through Anthony Gordon's deft finish from Morgan Rogers' quality cross. And Djed Spence and John Stones defended staunchly as England tried to protect a narrow lead. But England went into their shell when ahead, and Thomas Tuchel's changes only invited further pressure. In the end, Argentina able to pick off England with the players dropping deeper and deeper. All credit to them for fighting back again. Strong reaction when behind, but England got their tactics wrong in the final half-an-hour of the game. Another late win for Argentina, who will now have the chance to defend their World Cup title.🏴🇦🇷
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England 1 Argentina 2. Lautaro Martínez with an injury time header from Lionel Messi's cross just moments after Alexis Mac Allister hits the post.🇦🇷 https://t.co/BrPdwbIcWw
❤️ 1.1kopen on X ↗
Hard to see it now, but England is living a golden era and learning to compete on the hardest of games Today they needed more bravery, this word Tuchel has used so often, from the manager Protecting a lead so early should be put down to Tuchel But they are so close. Maybe it wasn't all down to Southgate after all! (It isn't), There is a lack of controlling midfielders (or lack of trust in them) By the way, this confidence pre game came from a wrong reading of what Argentina is about. That should be another lesson for the future
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About this match
On this page: the England vs Argentina final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this World Cup fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
- Watch Anthony Gordon's goal against Argentina (55').
- Watch Enzo Fernández's goal against England (85').
- Watch Lautaro Martínez's goal against England (90').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from England 1–2 Argentina. Explore more on the England and Argentina team pages or the World Cup page.
Quick answers
›What was the final score of England vs Argentina?
Argentina won 2–1 away against England (half-time 0–0).
›Who scored in England vs Argentina?
Anthony Gordon (55') for England; Enzo Fernández (85') for Argentina; Lautaro Martínez (90') for Argentina.
›Where can I watch England vs Argentina highlights?
Goal highlights and video clips from England 1–2 Argentina are on this page — open the videos tab to watch every goal.