The Argentina national football team, defending champions, and England, the more important, reached the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup with great difficulty and after extra time, the former defeating short-handed Switzerland 3-1 in Kansas, and the latter defeating Norway 2-1 in Miami. The two teams meet in the semi-final on Wednesday in Atlanta, while the second semi-final is scheduled for Tuesday between France, 2018 champions and 2022 runners-up, and Spain, European champions, in Dallas, meaning the highest-ranked teams reach the last four, and it is the third time that four teams who have won the title reach this stage, after 1970 and 1990. Argentina qualified, but they were not convincing, continuing to reveal their weaknesses, after facing great difficulties against Cape Verde (3-2 after extra time), making their first World Cup appearance, then against Egypt (3-2). The 'Albiceleste', champion in 1978, 1986 and 2022, opened the scoring early through Alexis Mac Allister, then Dan Ndoye equalized midway through the second half. Despite Switzerland playing for about 60 minutes (including stoppage time) with ten men after Breel Embolo's red card, Messi and his teammates failed to score until the final minutes of extra time, through Julian Alvarez, Man of the Match, with a powerful shot in the 112th minute, and Lautaro Martinez (120+1). Argentina seeks to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win the tournament twice in a row, led by Messi, eight-time World's Best Player, who finished his first match of the current World Cup without scoring. Messi, 39, failed to increase his record of 21 World Cup goals, an unprecedented tally he set over his six appearances in the tournament. In Miami, England also struggled greatly to qualify, after topping their group; they trailed 1-0 to lowly DR Congo until the 75th minute before winning 2-1 in the Round of 32. In the Round of 16, the 1996 world champions had a tough time against Mexico first, coming back to win 3-2 despite being numerically disadvantaged, and in the Norway match, they trailed by a goal from Andreas Schjelderup in the first half before Jude Bellingham rescued them with a brace at the end of the first half and the start of the first extra period. This is the fourth time England have reached the semi-finals after 1966, when they won the title, and 1990 and 2018, finishing fourth, and it is also the first time England have achieved four consecutive wins in the World Cup since 1970. Bellingham, 23, became the second player to score two or more goals in consecutive knockout matches, after Brazil's Pelé in 1958. Every time England is in danger, Bellingham saves them; he took advantage of a mistake by goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland at the start of the first extra period to tap in from close range, scoring his sixth goal in the current finals, two behind the leaders Frenchman Kylian Mbappé and Argentine Lionel Messi, and level with his teammate Harry Kane. Kane and Norwegian Erling Haaland failed to score, after the spotlight was on their attacking duel; the latter failed to score in an international match for the first time since October 2024, after a scoring streak of 27 goals in 14 matches.