World Cup 2026 Semifinals Recap

France vs. Spain 0-2

Both teams put pressure on each other from the beginning of first half. It seemed like Spain's forward movement was faster than usual. Spain looked to keep possession and France to counter or attack quickly. They took turns intercepting the ball. At the 19th minute, Spain got lucky and got fouled by France in the box to which Spain scored via penalty kick. France looked threatening at first but after Spain's first goal, the momentum seemed to side with the latter. The mood of the second half was similar to that of first half. Spain scored an additional goal from a quick one-two pass starting from outside the box after the 57th minute. France was now in trouble as they were 2 behind. France kept knocking on the door but they didn't shoot enough on target. In the end, Spain wasted time. The main reason for France's defeat was because they were too careful with preparing for goal opportunities and ended up missing the timing of shooting on target.

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England vs. Argentina 1-2

The rivalry of these teams was present and it seemed like Argentina wanted to take advantage of that by falling down and trying to get a foul call. Both teams carefully, but not meaninglessly, crafted passing plays to create goal opportunities. England looked more threatening going forward while Argentina's attack fizzled out quickly. There were no successful attacks in the first half. At the 54th minute, Argentina couldn't clear properly and it was picked up by England then made a good cross that was connected by Gordon for goal. Argentina responded by attack as they dominated possession and England was busy defending. Just before the hydration break, England had a scare with a header goal effort (connecting a perfect cross delivered by Messi) but Pickford blocked it well. At the 75th minute, Argentina had a clear header chance but it unluckily hit the post. As Argentina persistently knocked on the door, they eventually succeeded in equalizing by a long-range shot at the 85th minute. Messi has been delivering excellent crosses and he did it again as it led to a header connection and an additional goal over a minute after stop-itch time. England tried to come back but to no avail. It was another dramatically victorious ending for Argentina.