Messi inspires Argentina with another late rescue act to down England in a niggling semi-final that tees up a titanic clash with Spain in the final on Sunday.
The Three Lions had seemed on course for victory when Anthony Gordon gave them an early second-half lead.
But once behind, Argentina abandoned the dark arts for the sweet science of Lionel Messi and deservedly held on to their crown.
After all the hype, the hate and hullabaloo, the echoes of war and “divine” intervention, a football match finally broke out and the better team won.
Argentina’s 2-1 win over England was probably the most deserved of all their victories over the old enemy.
A win that, for once, brooks no argument: no red cards, no disputed penalties, no blatant cheating: their superiority was as clear as daylight.
But it came only after England had scored and scared them into actually revealing their attacking skills.
And as soon as they turned from dark arts to sweet science and brought Lionel Messi into the game, there was only one team in it.
Alexis MacAllister hit the post twice, Jordan Pickford had to make a wonder save as they could easily have had more.
It leaves us asking: why don’t they just stick to football when they’re so good at it?
England versus Argentina is never just a football match. It’s a niggling, nasty forever war with a history like no other. No ceasefire, always simmering.
Not much football between battles. And a real war in 1983, over the Falkland Islands, for Argentina at least, still overshadows it.
That ended in humiliation for the aggressors and each generation since has seen it as their business to exact revenge on the football field.
Diego Maradona declared that his “Hand of God” and his sublime second goal were just that. Generations not even born when blood was spilled still play as if it were yesterday.
And for the first 15 minutes in Atlanta, it looked like hostilities had resumed.
Argentina’s priority seemed, in the commentator’s words, to “leave something on England” rather than outplay them. But the men in white weren’t having it and gave plenty back.
The referee did well to keep a lid on it as the match threatened to boil over even in the air-conditioned Atlanta Stadium.
Such were the hysterics in the build-up that Argentina’s Falklands veterans felt the need to issue a statement to calm it down.
“Sport is not war”, the Federacion de Veteranos de Guerra de Malvinas said, adding: “The semi-final is a sporting event of global scale, not an armed retaliation or a historic compensation.”
But the sight of an England shirt, whatever the colour, seems a red rag to a bull and invites a charge.
Those veterans and the whole of Argentina will be grateful the players got the message in the nick of time.
Indeed, once they got going, the way they outplayed Tommy Tuchel’s men suggested they will not relinquish their crown easily against Spain.
For an hour here, as they had in previous games, they underwhelmed. According to critics, they had only got this far thanks to a combination of Messi’s genius and favouritism from officials.
Egypt came closest to beating them until a contentious VAR decision robbed the African side. Messi, himself, might have seen red in the very first game for raking his studs on an opponent’s calf.
The narrative was that FIFA wanted Messi in the final.
Just past the hour, it looked as if England might spoil the script. Having started well, standing up to often outrageous provocation, they’d taken the lead with a breakaway.
A glorious cross from Morgan Rogers was converted by the predatory Anthony Gordon at the far post. England were all too briefly in dreamland.
Deep down in the English psyche there’s a sense they will always find a way to lose in a major tournament. Sometimes it’s bad luck, sometimes bad judgment, but there’s a consistency there.
It’s 60 years since they won their one and only trophy at home. Could this time be different?
Time has not healed, it has heightened.
With a dynamic top manager, a new generation and a new attitude, there was hope. Heroic, fighting performances against Mexico and Norway had raised those hopes.
And there was a sense that Argentina were there for the taking.
And this team looked more equipped to handle the dark arts of their eternal enemy.
Time has not healed; it has heightened. It was hard not to see a red card, extra time, and penalties. And England had finally got that monkey off their backs.
So, this match, which had the potential to be an epic in terms of drama, could also have been a historic turning point.
When all the What Ifs were forgotten. We all know them. What if the ref had seen Maradona’s hand? The Italia ‘90 penalties! France ’98 and Beckham’s red card?
Ronaldinho’s lob in 2002? Germany in 2006 with Rooney’s red card and more penalties?
Lampard’s ghost goal? The semi-final in Russia in 2018? What if Kane had scored the penalty in Qatar in 2022?
With England, it’s not the hope that kills; it’s the inevitability.
Just when we thought it might be different, it was demoralisingly, gut-wrenchingly the same.
Tuchel seemed to turn into Southgate with his substitutions, inviting Argentina on.
England, with Declan Rice withdrawn, could not win the ball and wave after wave of blue-shirted attackers swarmed around the England goalmouth.
And the goals came – inevitably. A wonder strike from Enzo Fernandez and a header from Lautaro Martinez.
Too late to do much about. In five minutes, on the cusp of history, the hope was gone. Suddenly. Devastatingly. Another What If?
Tuchel will cop the blame for this and now we have a meaningless third-place match to share our sorrow with France.
Like losses on a battlefield, they’ve added up. Yet ironically, it was victory on a real battlefield that fires up England’s eternal football enemy.
Mystified England players have often noted: “They hate us more than we hate them.”
After this, England will hate them on the football field, too.
Don’t cry for Argentina, England will once again be shedding the tears. - FMT
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