Argentina vs England: Messi turned the tables in the last minutes, defeated England, Argentina in FIFA World Cup final for the second consecutive time

By Samira Vishwas On Jul 17, 2026

Argentina vs England Highlights: Defending champions Argentina reached their second consecutive FIFA World Cup final. Despite falling behind in the second semi-final, Argentina defeated England 2-1 to secure a place in the final. In this exciting match played at the Atlanta Stadium, Argentina snatched victory from England by scoring 2 goals in the last minutes of the match. Now on July 19, it will face Spain in the final.

There was a tough competition between the two teams right from the beginning of the match. The first half saw the most midfield battle and both the teams did not give each other many chances. England put pressure on set pieces, while Argentina also made some good attacks. There was a very heated atmosphere in the first half of the match. Both teams played aggressive football and fouls also occurred. But no team could score a goal for the first 45 minutes. During the match, yellow cards were also shown to England’s Elliot Anderson and Argentina’s Lisandro Martínez and Cristian Romero.

back-to-back #FIFAWorldCup Finals for Argentina😤 pic.twitter.com/VfmPqqlEYL
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 15, 2026

England took the lead at the beginning of the second half. In the 55th minute, Anthony Gordon made an excellent finish on Morgan Rogers’ brilliant cross and sent the ball into the goal. After the goal, England coach Thomas Tuchel fielded Ezri Konsa to strengthen the defense and the team adopted a defensive strategy.

🇦🇷 Argentina have qualified for the Final!#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/yyI0HrX8rU
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 15, 2026

However, Argentina did not give up and started attacking England’s goalpost continuously. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved a brilliant effort from Nicolas Gonzalez, while Alexis McAllister’s shot hit the post. Argentina finally got the equalizing goal in the 85th minute. Enzo Fernandez, who was the first to reach the loose ball in the penalty box, made a brilliant shot and made the score 1-1.

Why is no one talking about the assist from Messi which was from his weak foot #ArgvsEng pic.twitter.com/YDSgWqDZz7
— Shikhar Sagar (@crazy__shikhu) July 16, 2026

After this goal the entire trend of the match changed. In the second minute of injury time (90+2), Lionel Messi made a brilliant run from the right end and gave an accurate cross. Standing completely empty at the back post, Lautaro Martínez sent the ball into the goal with an easy header and gave Argentina a memorable 2-1 victory.

This is what he deserves ❤️#ARGvsENG pic.twitter.com/GMIFz63HL8
— Hadi tweets🇵🇰 (@imHadi804) July 15, 2026

England tried to equalize in the last moments. But it did not work against Argentina’s strong defense. With this defeat, England’s dream of playing the World Cup final for the first time since 1966 was shattered. Now England will face France in the match for third place, while the final between Argentina and Spain will decide the world champion.