In brief England scored first but were unable to maintain pressure against a mighty Argentine side. Argentina's two late-game goals send them to the finals against Spain.After an early game full of fouls and frustration, England looked like they had the final in hand until two very late goals delivered a semi-final victory to the defending World Cup champions. Lautaro Martínez landed a 92nd-minute header in the goal, cementing a late-game comeback that set up Lionel Messi's side to face off against European champions Spain.The fabled rivalry between England and Argentina was on full display for the 68,239 fans watching live in Atlanta, with both teams racking up fouls instead of goals in the first half. Argentina's supporters vastly outnumbered England's, turning the arena into a sea of sky blue and white that made Atlanta Stadium feel more like La Bombonera in Buenos Aires, drowning out England's attempted pre-match rendition of Sweet Caroline with a wall of whistles.News that makes senseYour trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.Early on, England's Elliot Anderson was booked for scything down Messi with both teams fired up. Neither side was able to create a moment, and according to sport analysts OptaJoe, it was the first World Cup match since records began in 1966 not to see a shot in the first half hour.The tension was finally broken by England's Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute, when English skipper Harry Kane whipped him the ball, allowing Gordon to slot in a cross to put England ahead and score the first goal of the match. But England's taste of the trophy was short-lived. The Three Lions' goal lit a fire under Argentina, and the reigning South American champions sent wave after wave of attack on the English net. England had just 12 per cent possession from the time Gordon opened the scoring to Martínez's winner 38 minutes later.This was the stadium where Argentina produced a stunning comeback from 2-0 down to beat Egypt in the last 16, and the side channelled that same, exciting and unpredictable energy. Urged on by Messi, Argentina threw everything at their opponents, as Jordan Pickford made a great save from a Nico González header, and Alexis Mac Allister was then denied by the post in the 76th minute.Messi set up Enzo Fernández to fire in an 85th-minute equaliser and then, with extra time looming, crossed for substitute Martinez to head in the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.Wednesday's assists took his tally to 12 at World Cups, a record that sits alongside his 21 goals at football's global showpiece.It was maybe not quite up there with Diego Maradona's 'hand of God' and his 1986 side's legendary display that also robbed England of a World Cup final, but the stoppage-time goal will go down as another iconic chapter in the series of memorable contests that define the two teams' long-standing feud. After a 2022 Victory in Qatar, Argentina has a chance at becoming the first team to retain the trophy since Brazil in 1962. Messi will also rack up another honour in what is widely expected to be his last World Cup: he has the chance to become just the second player in history to appear in three World Cup finals, after Brazilian great Cafu. The match will take place at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Monday at 5am AEST, as the first 48-team World Cup boils down to a confrontation between the reigning champions of Europe and South America.Messi had to wait until the age of 39 for a chance to play against England, and now he will face Spain for the first time in a competitive match.His career appeared complete when he led Argentina to glory in 2022 in Qatar, but he's clearly not done yet.Speaking after the match, Argentine manager Lionel Scaloni praised his team's unity and heart. "Well, I'm lost for words. A great happiness for our country and our people," he said."And another great happiness for this group who just do not know when they are beaten."I can tell them that we are going to try to win, we're going to leave it all out there, but the truth is that to do this is very difficult."It's very difficult for people to understand what our players have given. It is so impressive."We are unique. It's not arrogance, it is all heart."Today, so many people arrived here to support us, and for that I am truly grateful. This shirt merits us giving absolutely everything possible until the very end. To not spare anything at all."Just 'gutted'England, though, will have huge regrets as they head to Miami to play France in Saturday's third-place play-off, a fixture neither team wanted to be part of.The prospect of a first World Cup final appearance since their sole triumph 60 years ago was a momentous one, and they were so close, but they'll live to regret sitting back after Gordon's opener.The key men for Thomas Tuchel's side during this campaign have been Jude Bellingham and captain Kane, yet they failed to deliver on this occasion, and England's players slumped to the turf at full-time.Kane was unsurprisingly devastated to be heading to the Bronze trophy match against France. "Just gutted, gutted for the boys, gutted for everyone: the team, the staff, the fans," he told the BBC."We played well for the vast majority of it. Once we went 1-0 up we just seemed to try to hold on which, at this level, is not enough, so I’m just gutted, gutted."Kane acknowledged his side erred in failing to keep up the pressure on Argentina after their first goal."After the goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us being able to match them man for man, it just was wave after wave, and we were just trying to hold on, put the blocks in, but in the end it wasn’t enough," he said.Tuchel conceded his team took their foot off the pedal and did not mount the required resistance to a team as strong as Argentina. "We're disappointed. We were so close but we got too passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances," he said."We could not turn the ball possession around and then conceded so many crosses, chances and shots."We were close but couldn't keep the level up after we scored."His tactics have already come under scrutiny, with English legend Wayne Rooney saying England played too defensively and didn't go in search of a second goal after their first.But Tuchel said England's plan was to go for a second, they just couldn't regain control. "We couldn't win any balls, we couldn't keep the ball, so I think it was not a structural problem. We changed nothing. But the match changed completely," he said.He also defended his decision to switch to a back-five."We conceded [a chance] straight away and we decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open," he said."They won every header, they kept crossing and crossing so we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air."Straight after our goal, without any substitutions, we conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances, so we tried to help."Of course, the responsibility is on the coach, and if it doesn't go well, it is easy to say it was wrong."— With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters.For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.