England and Argentina will meet on Wednesday in a blockbuster World Cup semi-final infused with decades of bitter rivalry after they battled past Norway and Switzerland respectively in the quarter-finals. The South Americans and their talisman Lionel Messi must defeat England in Atlanta to keep alive their hopes of becoming the first team to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil in 1962. England and their key partnership of Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane must win to have any hope of ending a 60-year wait for a major trophy. The winner of that game will take on the victor of France's semi-final with Spain – they meet in Texas on Tuesday – in the final on July 19. The Argentina v England match comes 40 years after a seismic encounter in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni speaks to Lionel Messi during their World Cup quarter-final against Switzerland in Kansas City. © Odd Andersen, AFP
Argentina secured a 2-1 victory at the Estadio Azteca with two goals from Diego Maradona – one the infamous "Hand of God" when he punched the ball into the net and the other a dazzling solo effort considered one of the greatest goals ever to grace a World Cup. Read morePelé’s third, Baggio’s miss and the ‘Hand of God’: Iconic World Cups in Mexico and the US But the match will also take place against the backdrop of a lingering sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, known in Spanish as the Malvinas. Britain sent a military taskforce in 1982 to reclaim the islands after Argentine troops invaded. After Argentina beat a dogged Swiss side 3-1 in Kansas City on Saturday thanks to extra-time goals from Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez, their coach Lionel Scaloni attempted to take the political heat out of the meeting with England. "The message is this is a football game. That's what I can say," Scaloni said. "It is a football game and we will be playing against a very tough opponent. They have an excellent coach and this is a football game and that's all." 'Very lucky ' That coach, Thomas Tuchel, was angry with his England team after they needed extra-time on Saturday to end Norway's historic run in sweltering Miami.
