World Cup semi-finals: France vs Spain, England vs Argentina

The World Cup is reaching its climax, with two mouthwatering semi-final ties. On Tuesday at Dallas Stadium, France will face Spain. France, two-time champions, reached the semi-finals by beating Morocco 2-0. Kylian Mbappe continues to dominate, scoring eight goals in the tournament, just one behind Lionel Messi for the all-time World Cup top scorer record. However, France's strength lies in their depth: Ousmane Dembele sealed the quarter-final win, and Michael Olise leads the tournament with five assists. Spain, who beat France 2-1 in the Euro 2024 semi-finals, hope to produce their best football. Lamine Yamal, turning 19 on the eve of the match, has only one goal so far, while Mikel Oyarzabal has gone quiet. Spain are on a record 36-match unbeaten run since March 2024.

On Wednesday at Atlanta Stadium, England face Argentina, the defending champions. This fixture is steeped in rivalry, 40 years after Diego Maradona's famous performance knocked England out. Now Argentina have another iconic number 10: Lionel Messi, the all-time World Cup top scorer with eight goals. England have their own number 10, Jude Bellingham, who has scored twice in each of the last two knockout games—a feat not seen since Maradona in 1986. Harry Kane is also on six goals. Both teams have struggled to play their best but have shown grit in the knockout stages. England manager Thomas Tuchel has called for more quality after the quarter-final win over Norway. Notably, Tuchel is only the second England manager to go unbeaten in his first six World Cup games, matching Alf Ramsey in 1966. Argentina have reached the semi-finals for the third time in the last four tournaments.