The world waits with bated breath for Sunday, July 19, when Spain and Argentina face-off for the 2026 World Cup Final, after five weeks of intense drama and devastating heartbreak. In the end, only one team can lift the trophy, and after France and England battle for minor placings tomorrow, the championship game on Sunday promises to be a thriller.

But how did we get here?

Spain dashed Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup dreams with a late 1-0 victory over Portugal in the round of 16, conceded their only goal of the tournament against Belgium in the quarter final round, but ended that game with a 2-1 victory. La Roja — Spain — then played their best game of the tournament on Tuesday, taking on Les Bleus — France — in the first semi-final. France was at their very worst, as far as this tournament is concerned, and fell 2-0 to the Spanish dominance, with talisman Kylian Mbappe managing zero shots on goal, thereby ending the hope of getting to their third-consecutive World Cup final. Historically, the two nations have only met once before in the World Cup, with France winning the encounter 3-1 in the round of 16 at the 2006 tournament, then went to lose in the final to Italy, on penalties.

However, the second semifinal on Wednesday was on the opposite side of the spectrum, as far as history is concerned. England survived the thunderous Estadio Azteca, and overcame the Mexican assault, winning their round-of-16 match-up, 3-2, then outlasted the emphatic surge by Norway to win the quarter-final encounter 2-1. The dream run for The Three Lions — England — was unfortunately halted in the semi-final by reigning champions Argentina, who conceded early in the second half by a goal from Anthony Gordon, only to win from two late, Lionel Messi-assisted goals by Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez, thereby breaking English hearts and booked their spot for a consecutive World Cup Final appearance.

La Albiceleste — Argentina — took a very adventurous route to the finals, beating Egypt 3-2 in a drama-filled round-of-16 encounter, then needed extra time to defeat a 10-man Switzerland team 3-1, after finishing level on goals in regulation. That said, their semi-final match featured two nations that have a storied and sometimes controversial rivalry in the FIFA World Cup, having met five times prior to Wednesday, in Atlanta. Truth be told, an adjective befitting the occasion was near impossible to come by, but Lionel Messi playing against England for the first time in his career, and the Argentinian attempt to stop Thomas Tuchel’s bid to end 60 years of English suffering, was enough to surround the encounter with eager anticipation.

The World Cup rivalry between Argentina and England started back in 1962 and has featured controversy, unforgettable goals, and memorable moments ever since. And it’s not just an on-field rivalry, political tensions around the Falklands War in the 1980s, dominate the relationship between the two nations, and Argentina players and fans still reference the conflict in football songs. Surprisingly, of the five World Cup matches played between the two sides, it is England that are on top, but it has been a while since they have won a game that really mattered.

Here is a brief look at the storied past.

1962: Argentina 1-3 England (Rancagua, Chile — group stage) Goals from Ron Flowers, Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves put England into an unsurmountable 3-0 lead, with Argentina getting a late consolation goal. Both sides finished the group stage with a win, a defeat, and a loss, but England edged through at the expense of Argentina due to a superior goal difference. The Three Lions were knocked out by Brazil in the quarter-finals.

1966: Argentia 0-1England (Wembley, England — quarter-finals) Possibly where the football rivalry truly developed between the nations, as it was an ill-tempered affair, and to this day, Argentinians insist they were robbed, claiming Geoff Hurst’s winning goal was offside. Argentina’s captain Antonio Rattin sent off after just 33 minutes for two offences in the space of three minutes, and the match was delayed for almost eight minutes as Rattin refused to leave the pitch. The match is also believed to have led to the introduction of red and yellow cards, which were first used in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. Previously, referees had to rely on verbal warnings.

1986: Argentina 2-1 England (Mexico City, Mexico — quarter-finals) The year of the infamous “Hand of God” goal by Diego Maradona, in a game which was played just four years after the two countries had fought the Falklands War. It wasn’t just a football rivalry; political tensions were high as well. The Argentine number 10, Maradona, leapt for a ball with England’s goalkeeper Peter Shilton contesting but, with the ball beyond reach of his head, he opted to punch the ball into the open net. No VAR was around then. To be fair to Maradona, he then scored one of the greatest World Cup goals of all time as he received the ball in his own half of the field, then dribbled through half the English team, rounded Shilton and slotted home to double Argentina’s lead. Gary Lineker pulled back a late goal, but England crashed out in the most controversial of circumstances, and Argentina went on to beat West Germany in the final to lift the trophy.

1998: Argentina 2-2 England (Argentina win 4-3 on pens) (St Etienne, France — last 16) A match remembered for David Beckham receiving a red card for his kick-out at Argentina’s Diego Simeone. Prior to that Gabriel Batistuta and Alan Shearer had traded penalties, before Michael Owen scored one of England’s greatest World Cup goals to give England a 2-1 lead, then a clever free-kick saw Javier Zanetti level the score before the break. Argentina prevailed in the penalty shoot-out, before being knocked out in the next round by the Netherlands.

2002: Argentina 0-1 England (Sapporo, Japan — group stage) A match remembered as Beckham’s redemption after the then England captain scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot, after Owen was chopped down by Mauricio Pochettino in the penalty area. Argentina was eliminated before the knockouts for the first time since 1962 and England went on to beat Denmark in the last 16, before being knocked out by Brazil.

The 2026 World Cup is not yet over, though it soon will be, but the two remaining games promise more of the same heart-stopping, physical and emotional fistfights that have blanketed the tapestry of football for the past five weeks. The curtain-closers contain FIFA’s top four teams and are not expected to disappoint.

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