Sixty years. That’s how long England has been waiting for its World Cup victory drought to finally run its course. Heck, England, believed to be the birthplace of soccer, the most popular game of the planet, and home to the best professional league on the globe, hasn’t even been to a World Cup final since 1966, when Geoff Hurst scored a hat trick, at Wembley against West Germany, in a victory that expected to surely usher in a glorious era for soccer royalty.
No more trophies came England’s way. But on Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta, England was a mere five minutes away, plus stoppage time, from going back to the final for the first time in six decades, and coming one precious step closer from exorcizing all its World Cup demons.
Five minutes plus stoppage time. Scant time—but enough, it turned out, for the defending champs, and the game’s greatest ever player, Lionel Messi, who with this World Cup performance, at 39, has officially ended all debate on that GOAT matter, to crush England’s soul once again.
Argentina is moving on to face Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday at New York New Jersey Stadium, after beating England 2-1 in a thrilling semifinal in Atlanta. If the Spain-Argentina final offers half the combination of drama, stellar play, and heartbreak that Wednesday’s semifinal provided, the 2026 World Cup, which is already setting all kinds of attendance and viewership records, will go out on a proper high note.
