England 1–2 Argentina: World Cup Semifinal Recap, Result & How Our Picks Did
England led this semifinal for more than half an hour and still lost it. Anthony Gordon's second-half goal put them in front and, with the clock running down at Atlanta Stadium, a place in the final was within reach. Then Lionel Messi took over. Two assists in the last five-plus minutes turned a 1–0 deficit into a 2–1 Argentina win and sent the reigning champions back to the final. For North Carolina bettors, the headline call landed and two others did not. Here is how the night unfolded and how our three pre-match picks graded.
Argentina reached the final but came up short — Spain won it 1–0 after extra time. Here is where North Carolina bettors can line up the next futures market:
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What happened in Atlanta
For an hour this looked like England's night. They took the lead in the 55th minute when Morgan Rogers worked space on the flank and crossed for Anthony Gordon to finish, and for the next half hour they were 35 minutes from a World Cup final. Argentina pushed, but England had the goal and the game where they wanted it. The story should have ended there. It did not.
Messi turned it in the closing minutes. In the 85th he slipped the ball to Enzo Fernández for the equaliser, and with the match seemingly drifting toward extra time he found the winner instead: a cross into the box in the second minute of stoppage time that Lautaro Martínez headed in to make it 2–1. Two Messi assists inside the final five-plus minutes, and a game England had controlled was gone. Argentina are into a second straight World Cup final, chasing back-to-back titles.
A Messi masterclass, and an England collapse late
This was not a case of England being overrun. They led into the final 35 minutes and had done the hard part; what beat them was the best player of his generation producing two decisive moments when it mattered most. The Fernández equaliser and the Martínez header both came off Messi's boot, and both arrived in the window where a one-goal lead is at its most fragile. England will look back at the last five minutes and know the game was theirs to see out.
For Argentina it is another late escape on the biggest stage, the kind their entire run has been built to produce. The champions rode out a difficult night, trusted Messi to find the openings, and got exactly that. A second consecutive final is the reward, and the chance to go back-to-back now sits in front of them.
Spain ended their run, winning the final 1–0 after extra time. Compare next-season and futures prices at two North Carolina books:
FanDuel North Carolina — Bet $5 Get $200 in Bet Reset Tokens for 5 Days →21+ (18+ D.C., KY, WY) and present in select states (for KS, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino). First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Min $5 wager required for 5 consecutive days. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable Bet Reset tokens. Refund from token issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Max refund $200 per day. Restrictions apply, including token expiration. See full terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. Call 1-877-770-7867 (LA).
21+ and present in NC. Gambling problem? Call 877-718-5543 or visit morethanagame.nc.gov.
Up to 1,000 FanCash Matched Bets. New customers in AZ, CO, CT, DC, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MO, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV, or WY. Apply promotion in bet slip and place a $1+ cash wager (min odds -200) daily for 10 consecutive days starting day of account creation. FanCash rewards will equal the qualifying wager amount (max 100 FanCash/day). FanCash issued under this promotion expires at 11:59 p.m. ET 7 days from issuance. Terms, incl. FanCash terms, apply—see Fanatics Sportsbook app.
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How our picks did
Final tally: 1 of 3 landed — but the headline pick came in.
- WON Argentina to advance.
The anchor held, even from a goal down. Messi's two late assists flipped the tie, Martínez headed the winner in stoppage time, and the champions are through. This was the call the card was built around, and it cashed.
- LOST Kane anytime scorer.
England did score, but it was Anthony Gordon off a Rogers cross, not Harry Kane. The goal came from the flank rather than the center-forward, so this one missed.
- LOST Under 2.5 goals.
Three goals in a late thriller pushed this over. Gordon, Fernández and Martínez all found the net, and the stoppage-time winner settled it on the wrong side of the line for this pick.
The final: Spain 1–0 Argentina (AET)
Argentina's title defense ended one game short. In the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Spain beat them 1–0 after extra time — goalless through 90 minutes, then a Ferran Torres winner in the 106th off a Nico Williams assist. Lionel Messi's final World Cup ends in defeat, and Spain claim a second title, their first since 2010. For next-season and futures markets now that the tournament is done, shop the number across FanDuel and Fanatics.
More on our World Cup 2026 betting hub, plus the France vs Spain semifinal recap.
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