‘Victory towards Argentina could be our greatest win in 60 years – make it depend’

The Daily Star says there is a lot of history between England and Argentina. Tonight’s semi-final will be the first time the Three Lions have had to take on Lionel Messi too

The Daily Star

10:01, 15 Jul 2026Updated 10:14, 15 Jul 2026

The World Cup is about to get extremely spicy. Few match-ups in football bring as much baggage with them as England vs Argentina.

There is so much history between the two rivals – on and off the pitch. No-one can forget Maradona’s Hand of God in 1986 or the David Beckham red-card drama of 1998’s tempestuous clash.

The Three Lions will hope events don’t follow the pattern of those two infamous ties where we ended up losing. Instead they will look to the 2002 group stage match where a Beckham penalty led us to a memorable 1-0 win.

Yes, it’s the first time that the Three Lions have ever had to deal with Argentina legend Lionel Messi.

But this Argentina side has shown in the knockout stages that it is beatable. There is nothing to be afraid of.

This England side has shown time and again, over the last eight years, how capable it is of achieving great things. And it feels like the torch has been fairly seamlessly passed down from Gareth Southgate to Thomas Tuchel.

But often we have fallen short against the biggest nations. Make no mistake, victory tonight would be our biggest win since 1966.

Another men’s World Cup final would be a monumental moment for this country. Harry, Jude and co would then be just one hurdle – albeit rather a big one – from finally ending 60 years of hurt. This is your moment lads – make it count!

Loch out!

Monster fish that have ballooned to 20 times their usual weight are taking over Scottish lochs. They sound like Codzilla!

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