July 15, 2026 — 6:00amIf you were to buy a bottle of mentality, whose would you pay more for: England’s or Argentina’s?England manager Thomas Tuchel doesn’t need either. He probably wouldn’t even shop in the “mentality” section at the servo; he’d be over at the “performance” fridge, selecting a bottle of each element he felt was missing from his team’s 2-1 quarter-final World Cup win over Norway.“Sloppy,” Tuchel said pitchside after Jude Bellingham scored his second to put an end to the chaotic, controversial encounter in extra time. “A lot of technical mistakes. Not fast enough. Not repetitive enough. We were lucky.”If it wasn’t clear that Tuchel holds his squad’s strength of character in extremely high regard, it became so through his amusingly irate response to ITV’s follow-up question about whether the close call in Miami’s heat was “a mentality thing”.“Mentality?” Tuchel retorted in disbelief. “This is pure mentality. How can you talk about mentality now? There’s no mentality problem. This is pure mentality. You can bottle it up and sell it.”He knows – he has a case of the stuff in his dressing room. And while, intellectually, he wants his players to be faster, more clinical, make fewer mistakes and leave less to luck, England’s fourth World Cup semi-final appearance carries a strong struggle-of-mindsets flavour (not just the struggle between the mindsets of Tuchel and Bellingham).Based on the campaigns of both England and Argentina, Thursday morning’s (AEST) meeting could look a bit messy. Messi, certainly, given the unspoken assumption this is Lionel’s last World Cup. It could also, like four years ago, become Messi’s World Cup. Or, if Argentina lose, Messi’s final World Cup game.Jude Bellingham holds the keys to an England victory.Getty ImagesBut also messy in that the football will be flawed. England have yet to produce a 90-minute performance, instead risen to the occasion when required. Slogging it out against the DR Congo, scoring two goals in two minutes (Bellingham and Bellingham) against Mexico and then defending to the death with 10 men at the Azteca, before getting away with it against Norway in extra time (another Bellingham brace, Spidercam-gate). There are questions around the fitness of Declan Rice (reportedly good to go) and Reece James (uncertain to start), and that general problem with the right-back role.Argentina have been skating on even thinner ice. The extra time ball of tension against Cape Verde that left Messi in tears. The frantic, improbable comeback against Egypt and being outplayed by Switzerland until Breel Embolo’s contentious send-off (Mistaken Identity-gate) and Julian Alvarez extra-time stunner – not to mention all the dark-arts accusations. Numerous narrow escapes against lesser opposition which have highlighted defensive vulnerabilities and midfield frailties and, frankly, uncertainty around whether Lionel Scaloni’s side are flirting so heavily with defeat because they can, or if they are at risk of being outmanaged by the ultimate manager in Tuchel.Lionel Messi in the thick of it against Switzerland.AP Photo/Ed ZurgaThe fallible nature of this blockbuster only ups the psychological ante. Because for all of England’s bottled mentality until this point, this team have not made it to a World Cup final in such a long time. And they have also come so close for a number of years, only to fall at a penultimate hurdle. And might this knowledge affect the players’ mentality if emphasised a little bit? Even if England arguably have the edge over the somewhat passive defending champions, can Argentina dampen England’s mentality because Argentina are Argentina? Because Messi is Messi?Or are Argentina disadvantaged? Do they rely too much on Messi to be at his Earth-altering best? Did they see the way Rice and Elliot Anderson took care of Erling Haaland and might think twice about where and how their talisman plays? Is it a put-off that Bellingham thrives in moments of disorganisation, that he needs only a half-space and then he’s gone?There is, of course, the possibility that Messi produces something historic. That all that energy he’s been conserving was saved for this very match. This last set on the assault bike, for which he will leave nothing in the tank.Diego Maradona punches the ball into the net for his “Hand of God” goal against England in 1986.Getty ImagesRemarkably, Messi has never played against England. Not once over the course of his 21-year international career. The closest he came was a friendly in November 2005, but 18-year-old Messi was serving a suspension following his infamous red card 40 seconds into his Argentina debut off the bench against Hungary.That match (England won 3-2) was also, incidentally, the last time these two teams met. But while this tie has been scarce considering the two nations’ standings in world football – 14 times all up including five at World Cups – the quality of confrontations has more than offset their paucity.And by quality, I mean unrivalled drama of historical significance.There was that 1966 quarter-final clash at Wembley, a 1-0 England win known in Argentina as El Robo del Siglo (Robbery of the Century). Argentina’s captain Antonio Rattin – he died a few days ago aged 89, and Argentina wore black armbands for their quarter-final against Switzerland – was sent off for dissent and refused to leave the pitch. His argument that he could not understand West German referee Rudolf Kreitlein, because he did not speak German and Kreitlein did not speak Spanish, prompted FIFA’s introduction of red and yellow cards for the 1970 World Cup.Argentine captain Antonio Rattin is sent off by referee Rudolf Kreitlin of West Germany, after an incident in the World Cup quarter-final against England at Wembley Stadium, London on July 23, 1966.Press Association PhotosThe incident halted the game for almost 10 minutes. As Rattin finally made his way off, he crumpled an England corner flag “and insulted them”, and then completed his protest by sitting on a red carpet reserved for Queen Elizabeth II. “It was a very nice red carpet,” Rattin said years later.At full-time, after Geoff Hurst had scored the only goal, Roberto Ferreiro ripped the referee’s shirt and was escorted from the field by police. He received a three-match ban, as did Ermindo Onega for spitting at FIFA vice president Harry Cavan. England manager Alf Ramsey ran onto the pitch to stop his players swapping shirts with the Argentine players, who he called “animals” in his post-match press conference.Then, of course, there was the 1986 quarter-final at the Azteca in Mexico City, the site of Argentina’s 2-1 win in the countries’ first encounter since the Falklands War. Diego Maradona’s Hand of God goal and Goal of the Century require no explanation, though the depth of antagonism shone brightly until shortly before Maradona’s death in 2020, when he joked during an interview that for his 60th birthday he wanted “to score another goal against England, this time with the right hand”.After that came 1998 and the round-of-16 red card that would haunt a 23-year-old David Beckham for years. And then 2002, when Beckham, this time as England captain, scored a penalty for a 1-0 group-stage win.This is, indisputably, the perfectly poised grudge match. A semi-final lacking the beauty and technicality promised by France v Spain but making up for it with many storylines. It is why ticket prices have spiked so much they were, at the time of writing, twice as expensive as the other semi-final. It is why England’s pubs are reportedly expected to pour more pints the night of the game than on a standard New Year’s Eve.And it is why Argentina, according to Argentine reports, have requested permission from FIFA to wear their away kit – the deep blue shirts similar to those worn in the 1986 and 1988 triumphs over England. That Argentina appear to already be the designated away side for the fixture in Atlanta hints at mind games. So too does the frenzied sharing among Argentine media of Bellingham grabbing at his shoulder during the Norway game (the Real Madrid 23-year-old had surgery last year).And then you have the England fans, circulating a meme of Margaret Thatcher dressed as the referee, adjudicating between Kane and Messi, and back we all go to the ’80s.Messi, despite being 39, wasn’t yet born for the legendary 1986 encounter. But he was asked about it this week. “Everything I have seen and remember [from that match] is from videos and images that Argentinians constantly watch and relive,” Messi told ESPN.“Obviously, playing against England is special because they are a powerhouse, and matches against powerhouses are always special. Personally, it’s the first time I’m going to play against them. I’ve played against everyone except England, so it will be nice for that reason too.”Even Tuchel is embracing “a new level of emotional roller coaster”.“It’s intense,” he said after the quarter-final. “I’m enjoying it a lot. I feel very alive in these moments. This is where I want to be. I don’t want to be anywhere else in the world.”News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.More:FIFA World CupArgentinaEnglandLionel MessiOpinionFrom our partners