England and Argentina…the oldest historical “enmities”.

One of the fiercest and oldest historical feuds in the world of football will be renewed after an absence of 20 years, when the English and Argentinian teams collide today, at 23:00, at Atlanta Stadium, in a fiery summit in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup.

The “Three Lions” team is on the cusp of reaching the final of the World Cup for the first time in six decades, specifically since the historic coronation in the 1966 edition, while the Argentine Tango team enters the confrontation as the holder of the world title, and has an absolute historical advantage with a success rate of 100% in surpassing this advanced stage of the competition whenever it reaches it.

The English road to the semi-finals was not paved with roses. After a volatile group stage that witnessed an opening draw against Ghana, the team overcame the obstacle of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with difficulty, before experiencing a magical night in Mexico, followed by a fierce confrontation in the quarter-finals against Norway in Miami.

In that confrontation, the men of the German coach, Thomas Tuchel, swallowed bitterness before crossing over, as the team fell behind in the score against the Scandinavian “dark horse”, before the star Jude Bellingham intervened at the perfect time to score a wonderful double that led the team to win 2-1 after the extension to extra time, raising his personal tally to six goals in the tournament, equal to team captain Harry Kane.

Despite England’s series of successive victories, which amounted to four matches during which they scored at least two goals in each match, defensive fragility remains a concern that worries Tuchel, who publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with his players’ technical errors following last Saturday’s match.

This confrontation brings back eternal classic memories. Through the 1986 World Cup clash in the famous Mexican stadium and the historic double of the late legend Diego Maradona, and before that the exciting English victory in the quarter-finals of the 1966 World Cup at Wembley Stadium, and ending with the last confrontation that brought together the two sides in November 2005, which England won 3-2 thanks to the goals of Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney, knowing that the Three Lions only suffered defeat in two matches out of 14 direct historical confrontations against the giants. South America.

On the other hand, this match represents the sixth World Cup confrontation for Argentina against its traditional European rival, and it is also the sixth semi-final match in the history of “Tango”, which has never failed to advance to the final upon its arrival at this stage.

The defending champion needed extraordinary and double efforts to reach the semi-finals after surviving three complex elimination rounds. He began his journey by escaping the trap of Cape Verde, before escaping from a bigger predicament against Egypt in the round of 16 by coming back from a 0-2 deficit 11 minutes before the end of the match to turn the tables 3-2. In the quarter-finals, the battle against Switzerland extended to extra time, and Julian Alvarez decided the match with a magical goal that defeated the Swiss, who completed the match with ten players, ending the match with a score of 3-1.

Lionel Messi and his teammates scored three goals in each of their last four matches, bringing their total number of goals to 17 since the start of the current edition of the World Cup, which is the second best scoring rate for Argentina in the history of the World Cup after the 1930 edition in which they scored 18 goals.

In the England national team, Harry Kane is preparing to play his 121st international match, surpassing Wayne Rooney as the most represented player for the English national team, behind goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who played 125 matches.

The individual struggle rages between Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham in the Golden Boot race, with the legend Lionel Messi leading with eight goals.

The Argentine national team has not suffered the bitterness of defeat in 12 consecutive World Cup matches, since its opening loss to Saudi Arabia in Qatar 2022.