A Stone-Faced Lionel Messi Points to Reason England Lost to Argentina in 2026 World Cup Semifinal (Video)
On 16 July 2026, leading sports outlet ESPN shared a clip of Lionel Messi discussing the England national team after the 2026 World Cup semifinal, in which he provided two assists to help Argentina come from behind and win 2-1.
England took the lead 1-0 through Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute, but from the 72nd minute, Thomas Tuchel made defensive substitutions to focus on protecting the lead. Ultimately, Argentina scored two late goals: Enzo Fernandez in the 85th minute and Lautaro Martinez in stoppage time at 90+2 minutes.
This victory sent Argentina to their second consecutive World Cup final, vying for their fourth world title. Meanwhile, England was eliminated at the semifinal stage for the second time in their last three World Cups, missing the chance to win their second world championship since their sole title 60 years ago.
Recently, ESPN released a clip of Lionel Messi commenting on Argentina's win, including a striking remark about England, saying the reason for their late comeback was that their opponents ran out of energy to fight back.
In the clip, Messi said, "We were very emotionally involved in the match while the score was still tied. We needed encouragement from our fans because we saw the opportunity to win within the 90 minutes."
"We had chances to score, both through attacking down the middle and the wings, as well as creating opportunities from crosses, through balls, and penetrating the inside areas."
"And we sensed that they were starting to lose the will to fight on, while we kept pushing forward continuously. That’s why, after equalizing 1-1, the cheers from the fans supported us even more."
"As I said, we are very happy because it was a tight and intense game. We always want to win, and this victory also means we have reached another World Cup final."
In the 2026 World Cup final, Argentina will face Spain on Sunday, 19 July, with kickoff at 02:00 on Monday, 20 July, Thai time.
