England's dream of reaching the 2026 World Cup final turned into a new nightmare, after losing to Argentina 1-2 in the semifinal on Wednesday evening in Atlanta.

The English team took the lead with a goal by Anthony Gordon 10 minutes into the second half, but the Three Lions squandered their advantage as the Latin American side turned the tables with two goals in the final minutes.

According to Opta, there are only two instances in the 21st century where a team scored first in a semifinal but failed to reach the World Cup final.

The network noted that England was involved in both cases.

2 - There are only two cases in the 21st century where a team scored first in a semifinal but did not advance to the World Cup final, both for England (against Croatia in 2018 and Argentina in 2026). Familiar. pic.twitter.com/RVGf0XEnb5 — OptaArabi (@OptaArabi) July 15, 2026

Before today's match, England had also failed to hold onto a lead in the 2018 World Cup semifinal against Croatia. At that time, England took the lead through Kieran Trippier, but conceded two goals by Ivan Perišić and Mario Mandžukić, losing 1-2, the same score as today's match.