They’re the semi-final pairings FIFA wanted. France V Spain and England V Argentina are the two last four games in this year’s FIFA World Cup. It was designed to be this way in all honesty; whether FIFA should be seeding teams in order to avoid match-ups before the latter stages is a conversation for another day, but there is no denying the stakes for these two semi-finals. France are looking to make their third consecutive final in a row, the first country to do the feat since Brazil in 1994, 1998 and 2002. Spain are the reigning European Champions and they’re by far the most defensively sound team remaining. England haven’t made a World Cup final since they last won in 1966, and this is their fourth ever World Cup last four appearance, and in the case of the Argentinians, they’re the defending champions. FIFA couldn’t have scripted it better if they tried, as these four giants of the footballing world will lock horns, each of them two steps away from glory.
The first game is tomorrow night, as Dallas plays host to the French playing the Spanish. Didier Deschamps’ men have lit up the tournament with their attacking flair and prowess, and the performances of talismanic captain Kylian Mbappe have fired them into the last four yet again. This is Deschamps’ last tournament as France manager, and his side go into this clash after a relatively comfortable 2-0 win against Morocco in the last round. Spain, on the other hand, have had to fight, and this quality has been on display in their Round of 16 and Quarter-Final matches, especially so from Arsenal’s Mikel Merino, who’s scored winners in the 91st and 88th minutes respectively to knock out Portugal and Belgium. The pressing question on everyone’s lips is whether Spain’s defensive solidity will be able to keep out the likes of Mbappe, Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele, Rayan Cherki and more, and will Spain be able to show their own attacking strengths? It is set to be a fascinating clash, and the winner will get a day’s extra rest before the final, which may seem like a minor, meagre difference, but it could make a difference.
England and Argentina don’t like each other. The dispute over the Falkland Islands was the peak of their sour relationship; save for four years later when a little-known footballer called Diego Maradona handled the ball past Peter Shilton and knocked Bobby Robson’s team out of the tournament. Alright, it’s slightly more serious than that, but one digresses. This is a monumental match of today’s footballing stars, and some of its former legends who still hold on to some of their power and glory. England have fought to get to this stage; they were poor against DR Congo but they got over the line thanks to two late Harry Kane goals, they were tactically astute against Mexico, and they were poor again against Norway on Saturday night, despite keeping Erling Haaland quiet. Jude Bellingham’s heroics have put them into this tie against Argentrina, who’ve been dragged to extra-time twice in the knockout stages. Lionel Scaloni’s men were bailed out by an own goal from Diney Borges against Cape Verde, a joint effort from Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez against Egypt, and on Saturday night, by Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez. The worry for both sides is that can their luck continue, and the guarantee for both sides is that one of their runs will come to an end in Atlanta on Wednesday night. If England win, it’ll be their third major final in six years; in that timespan Argentina have not only made three major finals, but won all of them. Both of these semi-finals are guaranteed to be enthralling encounters, and at the end of Wednesday night, we’ll know who’ll fight for third in Miami, and who’ll fight for the right to be called World Champions in New Jersey
Luke Watson brings you our World cup diary
