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Key events
Our data expert Andrew Beasley on why England should still be wary of 39-year-old Leo Messi’s sprinting ability:
And when Messi hits top speed, he can still go at a decent pace. Data on Sofascore shows his top sprint at this World Cup was 30.9 km/h. That is faster than any run Lautaro Martínez (30.5) or Alexis Mac Allister (30.2) has made for Argentina, despite their being more than a decade younger. It is not far behind the best Kane (31.4) or Jude Bellingham (31.1) have offered either.
And Barney Ronay’s scene-setter:
There are shared qualities here. Both nations belong to that list of places where football occupies a position of overblown prominence in the national sense of wellbeing. And on the pitch these are two well matched teams; or rather, not really teams, but excitingly wonky collections of parts dragged to this point by star players and wild-eyed comebacks, emotion as opposed to process.
Whatever happens in Atlanta, it is unlikely to be rational, cold or free from further episodes of whiplash. England have been on the edge in their past two matches. Argentina have at least half a team’s worth of players with a thirst for confrontation. High-stakes VAR screen debacle anyone? A third-minute 50/50 with Cristian Romero? Emi Martínez in a penalty shootout against England? Never mind shithousery. Expect a shitmansion, a shitpalace.
World Cup Daily has dropped, and I’m listening to it as I type. Get your ears round it now. Lots to chew on, including Philippe Auclair claiming that for the first time ever most of the world is backing England in a match against Argentina, which may rouse readers in Glasgow, Dublin, Cardiff etc.
Half-time of final to last 30 minutes
Fans at the final will get the chance to yam down an extra pint on the concourse, while their kids can successfully pester them for another tub of popcorn, for half-time will last half an hour, Fifa has confirmed. This will create sufficient time for the much-vaunted Superbowl-esque half-time show at which the likes of Shakira, Justin Bieber and Madonna will play the hits. Or maybe they won’t play the hits – perhaps they’ll go rogue and try out some experimental unreleased session tracks. We can but hope.
Preamble
Greetings everyone, and welcome to a massive World Cup day. We’ll be covering all the buildup to the England v Argentina semi-final throughout the day, but we need to talk about last night first don’t we? Yes, Spain are in the final after producing, if not a shock, then at least an unscripted moment, in a World Cup that’s sometimes felt as if it has had too many scripted ones. The billing for last night didn’t have France simply not showing up as among the plot twists.
But Spain were masterful, on and off the ball (and it was mostly the former such is their mesmeric knack for keeping possession), underpinned by flawless midfield performances from Fabián Ruiz and Rodri. The whole team didn’t put a foot wrong, and Pedro Porro, scorer of the second goal, is turning into an unlikely Spanish hero.
It all means that we have the possibility of a Spain v England major tournament final for the fourth summer in a row, following on from the women’s World Cup in 2023, men’s Euros in 2024 and women’s Euros last year. But England have considerable work to do first.
Anyway, here’s your essential reading from the game in Dallas:
English (US) ·