We’re going to miss this World Cup when it’s over next week.
We were treated to two brilliant quarterfinals over the weekend, which saw both England and Argentina advance to the last four at the expense of Norway and Switzerland.
For England, it was all about one name: Jude Bellingham. I’ve given up on guessing where the 23-year-old plays, he’s sort of just everywhere on the pitch and he netted twice to inspire his team past Erling Haaland’s Norway.
As for Argentina, it has Julián Alvarez to thank after the striker scored an absolute worldie in extra time to help the team through to the semifinal (with a little help from a controversial VAR call).
It means the last four is now complete, so – with no games until Tuesday – it’s time to meet our semifinalists.
The Main Thing: Meet the semifinalists
Despite this being a tournament full of underdog success stories and surprise results, we’ve ended up with the four highest-ranked teams in the semifinals. In many ways, this is the final four that many would have predicted, but it certainly hasn’t been straight forward.
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Let’s start with England. Being a fan myself, I don’t think I’ve felt fully comfortable watching any of the games so far this tournament. Yes, it all started well with a 4-2 win against Croatia, but the Three Lions have seemingly struggled to properly kick on and have scrapped their way to this point.
It’s done so off the back of two players, really. Both Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham have scored six goals in the competition, and England would have been knocked out much earlier if it didn’t have these two superstars to rely on.
Even if the team looks disjointed and vulnerable at the back (it really does, most of the time), the talents of those two attackers can get it out of jail. While Kane is a pure goalscorer, Bellingham offers that bit of bite and nastiness that has made England such a hard team to knock out this summer.
With the country looking for its first World Cup title since 1966, there is immense pressure on the shoulders of those two men to keep producing match-winning moments.
England was last in a World Cup semifinal in 2018 but lost on that occasion to Croatia.
England’s opponent, Argentina, is quite similar in many ways. The defending champion has also relied on moments of brilliance to sneak through the knockout rounds, flirting with elimination on more than one occasion.
The team has naturally relied of Lionel Messi to get it out of trouble, and the magic man has duly obliged so far – despite last night being all about his teammate Julián Alvarez.
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Much like England, Argentina isn’t a beautiful team to watch, but it knows how to win ugly, and that’s all that counts in tournament soccer sometimes. It is worth noting, though, that Argentina has scored the most goals out of anyone in the competition (17).
It also has the added bonus of experience, with many members of the current squad winning the title back in 2022. You’ve just got a feeling that this semifinal on Wednesday is going to be special – so expect fireworks.
We spoke about the other semifinal in a previous edition of this newsletter, but let’s have a quick recap of what to expect on Tuesday. First, let’s focus on France.
Considered by many to be the tournament favorite, France has barely gotten out of first gear so far this summer. While other teams have crawled to this point in the World Cup, Les Bleus has waltzed its way through the rounds, relying on its ridiculously talented front line.
Kylian Mbappé has been superb yet again, with his pace and directness proving highly effective on the international stage. But he’s supported by the brilliant Ousmane Dembélé and a host of other attackers who makes the team so frightening.
With legendary manager Didier Deschamps leaving his role after this tournament, France will be looking to replicate its 2018 success by sending him away with another World Cup winner’s medal.
The unenviable task of playing France falls to Spain. La Roja was also expected to do well in North America, and while it’s got to this point, it hasn’t set the world alight with its performances.
We are still yet to see teenage superstar Lamine Yamal really thrive, which might have to do with the injury he was nursing coming into the tournament. But the midfield and defense are looking strong, and the team has conceded just one goal the entire tournament (though you feel that stat might be tested when it faces France).
Despite France being the narrow favorite, recent history points more to Spain. After all, Spain beat France in the semifinals of Euro 2024, a tournament it went on to win. It also beat Les Bleus in the Nations League last year.
Whoever wins this semifinal will likely be favorite to win the whole thing on July 19. I can’t wait to find out who it will be.
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