For the first time in World Cup history, the tournament’s semifinal round will feature the top four ranked teams in the world exactly as FIFA’s rankings had them: France, Spain, England and Argentina. The dream bracket is now set after a weekend of knockout drama, with two heavyweight ties on tap this week that will decide who plays for the trophy in the tournament’s final. Kickoff for both games is 3 p.m. ET.
What to know:
- France vs. Spain kicks off Tuesday, July 14 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
- England vs. Argentina follows Wednesday, July 15 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
- This marks the first time the top four FIFA-ranked teams have all reached the semifinals in World Cup history.
- France is unbeaten through six matches, outscoring opponents 16-2.
- Argentina, the defending champion, is chasing back-to-back titles behind Lionel Messi.
- England is seeking its first World Cup title since 1966.
The semifinal field came together over the weekend as each of the four favorites survived tense quarterfinal ties. France dispatched Morocco 2-0, continuing a run in which manager Didier Deschamps’s side has yet to be seriously tested. Spain needed a bit more time to shake off Belgium, winning 2-1, while England required extra time to get past Norway, with Jude Bellingham scoring both goals in a 2-1 victory that sent the Three Lions through. Argentina completed the group with a 3-1 win over Switzerland, capping a knockout run that manager Lionel Scaloni has openly described as far bumpier than the team’s group-stage form suggested.
The first semifinal pits two European powers with contrasting paths to this point. France has been the tournament’s most ruthless attacking side, riding the combination of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise to six straight wins and a goal difference that dwarfs the rest of the field. Spain, by contrast, has been steadier than spectacular. The reigning European champions were held to a surprise goalless draw by Cape Verde in their opening match, but have not looked troubled since, following that result with a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia, a 1-0 win over Uruguay and a 3-0 win over Austria. Spain is outscoring opponents 11-1 across the tournament, a mark that trails only France among the final four. Oddsmakers have installed France as the narrow favorite to win Tuesday’s match and, by extension, the tournament as a whole, with Spain next in line on the outright odds board.
Wednesday’s match in Atlanta carries its own weight of history. Argentina arrives as the defending World Cup champion, looking to become the first team to win consecutive titles since Brazil in 1962. Messi has again been central to that push, though Scaloni’s team has needed late goals and penalty-shootout nerve to survive three consecutive knockout matches that were far tighter than the club’s group-stage romp through Algeria, Austria and Jordan. England, meanwhile, is making just its second semifinal appearance in three tournaments, a marked turnaround for a program that had gone more than five decades between deep runs before this recent stretch. Bellingham’s extra-time heroics against Norway have made him the face of England’s campaign, and his club form has translated directly onto the World Cup stage. Bookmakers list England as the favorite over Argentina, setting up a semifinal in which neither side can be considered a clear underdog.
What makes this semifinal round unusual isn’t just the quality of the four teams but the symmetry of the storylines. France and Spain represent the tournament’s two most statistically dominant sides, both unbeaten and both yet to concede more than two goals in a single match. England and Argentina, meanwhile, have taken far rockier roads, each needing extra time or late goals to escape the knockout rounds, and each carrying a distinct historical narrative: Argentina defending a title with an aging talisman in Messi, England chasing a trophy that has eluded the country for 60 years.
The winners of Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s matches will meet in the final, with the two semifinal losers playing for third place. For neutral fans, the appeal is straightforward – this is the first time the sport’s own ranking system and the tournament bracket have lined up perfectly, guaranteeing that whoever lifts the trophy will have beaten the three other best-ranked teams in the world to do it.
Leave a Reply