After beating Switzerland to reach the semifinals, World Cup history has become Argentina’s companion — and that history says their footing never slips from this stage. In their five previous semifinals, the three-time world champions have won all five; this will be their sixth World Cup semifinal. On Sunday morning, Argentina reached the semifinals by beating Switzerland 3-1 in extra time, and they will now face England on Wednesday night.
Against England, however, Messi’s side are slightly behind on the statistics. In five World Cup meetings, England have won three and Argentina two. In 1962 England beat Argentina 3-1 in the group stage, and four years later, on the way to England’s only World Cup title, they beat Argentina 1-0 in the quarterfinal; most recently, at the 2002 World Cup, Argentina again lost 1-0 to England in the group stage. Argentina’s wins came in the 1986 quarterfinal, on Diego Maradona’s path to the World Cup title, by 2-1, and at the 1998 World Cup, when the round-of-16 match was drawn 2-2 and Argentina won on penalties.
This time, before Messi’s Argentina meet Kane and Bellingham’s England for the sixth time, in the semifinal, history is providing inspiration to the Albiceleste — for them, reaching the semifinal has always meant reaching the final.
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