Leonel Messi has spent more than two decades making his way in international football, facing every World Cup-winning nation from Brazil to France, but England remained the only major opponent missing from the list.

That will change next Wednesday when Argentina meets the European team in the World Cup semifinal in Atlanta, a strong clash that the Argentine Football Association described on its website as 'the match that destiny had saved for Messi.'

Messi (39 years old) has played against Brazil, Uruguay, Germany, Italy, Spain and France during his career, but he has never faced England.

The closest they came was in a friendly match in Geneva in November 2005, the last time the two teams met.

Argentina lost 3-2 after Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, who scored two goals, turned the match in England's favor following goals from Hernan Crespo and Walter Samuel. But Messi missed that match after being sent off in his first international game against Hungary earlier that year.

Messi told reporters after Argentina's 3-1 win over Switzerland in the World Cup quarterfinals early Sunday after extra time: 'It is a special match because they are a great team and a football powerhouse, and it is always wonderful to face a team like this and play a match of this kind.'

He added: 'We need to rest after being under a lot of stress, which the team clearly feels, and we have to go out onto the pitch in the best possible condition to continue what we were doing: competing (for the title).'

Argentina succeeded in overcoming a third consecutive knockout-stage match full of excitement, after beating Cape Verde 3-2 after extra time in the round of 32, and their strong comeback to beat Egypt 3-2 in the round of 16 after trailing 2-0 with 11 minutes left in the match.

Messi provided an assist for Alexis Mac Allister's opening goal against Switzerland, but it was the first World Cup match since Argentina's 2-0 win over Poland in the group stage of the 2022 Qatar World Cup in which Messi did not score.

Micah Richards, an analyst for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), said: 'England can surpass Argentina in speed, but Argentina has that little genius Messi. Everyone plays for him, everyone must be in a state of great excitement. It's impossible to mark his movements because he doesn't run backwards.'

The England match adds a new chapter to one of the most thrilling rivalries in world football, shaped by decades of sporting excitement and political tensions, while giving Messi a place in a clash that has produced some of the most unforgettable football memories in Argentina's history.