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The Hand of God fixture is back, one game from the final

No fixture in international football carries more baggage than England versus Argentina. In 1986, four years after the two countries fought an actual war over the Falklands, Diego Maradona knocked England out of the World Cup with two goals in four minutes: the first punched in with his fist — 'a little with the head of Maradona, a little with the hand of God,' he said afterward — the second a slalom past half the England team that was later voted the greatest goal in World Cup history. In 1998 David Beckham was sent off against them and England went out on penalties; in 2002 Beckham's penalty beat them. Wednesday in Atlanta is their first World Cup meeting in twenty-four years, with a place in the final on the line.

Argentina are the defending champions, and they've made near-death a routine. Extra time to put away Cape Verde. Two goals down to Egypt with the clock past 75 before scoring three. Against Switzerland they led through Alexis Mac Allister's ninth-minute goal from a Messi corner, got pegged back by Dan Ndoye, and needed a Julián Álvarez strike in the 112th minute — plus Lautaro Martínez at the very end — to win 3-1 in extra time. Messi is 39, openly playing his last World Cup, already the tournament's record scorer, and two wins from making Argentina the first back-to-back champions since Brazil in 1962. The team keeps flirting with elimination. It also keeps refusing to lose.

England's sixty-year wait for a second title is the loudest recurring storyline in the sport, but this time they've brought something new. Jude Bellingham, 23, scored twice to beat Mexico at the Azteca — the first man to score a World Cup knockout brace in that stadium since Maradona in 1986 — then both goals against Norway: the equalizer in first-half stoppage time, and the winner three minutes into extra time, pouncing on a rebound. That made him the first player since Maradona to score braces in consecutive World Cup knockout matches. England's best player is retracing Maradona's 1986 footsteps, and the next team in his way is Argentina.

There's plenty around the headline act. Harry Kane took Gary Lineker's England World Cup scoring record earlier in the tournament, Thomas Tuchel has England in their first World Cup semifinal since 2018, and the winner gets France or Spain in the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium. England's only title came in 1966 — a run that, naturally, went through Argentina.

Golden Boot

Messi and Mbappé share the Golden Boot lead on eight goals; England's threat is split in two, with Bellingham and Kane both on six — and Kane already owns England's all-time World Cup scoring record, taken from Gary Lineker with his 11th against Panama.