Messi could not score a goal, yet Argentina defeated Switzerland, great clash with England in the semi-finals

Knews Desk– In the FIFA World Cup 2026, defending champion Argentina has performed brilliantly and secured its place in the semi-finals. Argentina defeated Switzerland 3-1 in the quarterfinal match played at the Kansas City Stadium. The special thing was that team captain Lionel Messi could not score a goal in this match, but his excellent assist and leadership played an important role in Argentina’s victory. With this victory, Argentina will now face England in the semi-finals on July 15.

Argentina played aggressively from the beginning of the match. In the 10th minute of the match, Alexis McAllister scored a brilliant goal to give the team a 1-0 lead. Lionel Messi had an excellent assist in this goal, which also became the 10th assist of his FIFA World Cup career. With this, Messi made another record in World Cup history. Argentina maintained a 1-0 lead till the first half and did not give much chances to Switzerland. Switzerland made a brilliant comeback in the second half. Dan Ndoye scored a goal to level the score at 1-1, making the match more exciting. However, in the 72nd minute the Swiss team suffered a big blow when one of its players was shown a red card. After this Switzerland had to play the remaining matches with 10 players. Despite this, the team showed great fighting spirit and prevented Argentina from scoring the second goal for the stipulated 90 minutes. As a result, the match ended in a 1-1 draw and reached extra time.

There was a close contest between the two teams in the first part of extra time, but Argentina showed its experience in the second extra time. Julian Alvarez scored in the 112th minute to give the team a 2-1 lead. After this, just before the end of the match, Lautaro Martínez sealed Argentina’s victory by scoring the third goal. In this way, Argentina confirmed its place in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 by winning the match 3-1. Now the eyes of football lovers will be on the semi-final match between Argentina and England to be held on July 15. Defending champions Argentina will try to reach the final for the second consecutive time, while England will enter the field with the intention of realizing their dream of winning the World Cup after a long wait.