Summary: Argentina - Switzerland 3:1 (after extra time)/Here11

England's national team lineup is one of the most powerful in world football. Defenders from Manchester City, full-backs from Chelsea and Tottenham, midfielders from the English champions and the most important player joining the runners-up. Both cost hundreds of millions of pounds. In the attacking midfield and striker roles are two of the stars leading two of the world's strongest clubs.

To play for this England team you must be selected from hundreds of thousands of players suited to the highest level of football: you need to be athletic, vertical, aggressive, powerful, fast, sharp, a football machine. Only a few reach the Premier League. Only the very best among them reach the England national team. All must be sufficiently technical, quick-thinking, tough. They are the top of the top.

England national team players - most of them grew up in academies with the best conditions in the world. They sharpened their skills training against the best of their peers in Europe. They played in the Premier League from age 19. Some passed through lower leagues to become even tougher and more determined. They are ready for the highest level in football. They trained for it all their lives.

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They trained for it all their lives/GettyImages

And they must manage this emotionally. Every day of their lives. A Premier League player must stay cool under immense pressure. From the media, from his own expectations, from his family, from his accountant, and he succeeds in withstanding that pressure and even excelling under it. Every day in his career as a Premier League player or at Bayern Munich or Real Madrid.

To play at this level every season you must be a man at the peak of his manhood who knows how to cope mentally, technically, tactically and emotionally with the rollercoaster that is professional football. You must be an organic machine planned and synchronized. And you are that. How can a team of mere humans compete against this football AI at all?

So to beat these machines you must show you are not afraid of contact with them. You must understand you will not win sprints or dribbles. But you can be far more cunning than the athletic prodigy facing you. And you can want it more. And you can be more determined. And you can scratch and hurt and torment and exhaust.

Scratch, hurt, torment and exhaust/Reuters

And if you are Argentine - then you are good at this. And not only are you good at it, you are good at it for a specific reason. The reason is religious. The best player in history is with you in the national team. You will do everything you can to win - and your place in paradise is assured. And you know that without him you will not be world champions. And you know that only with him can you win the World Cup. There is none besides him.

And that means that if to win you need a team full of players like you, who understand their place and role in such a team, then that is what will be. And this adds even more to the immense meaning you draw from when you play for your country. And you do not lose. No matter what happens. You are always winning. So you are strengthened by this faith of yours. Every evil is for the good, and victory is assured if only you do what you know you must do to taste victory.

The game passes through stages. You can control the game before you lead and then something changes in its dynamic and you turn from pursuer to pursued. The entire mentality changes in an instant. At these levels, a footballer must go through the stages with himself and adapt to a completely different style of play than what he is used to.

Those who succeed in this task better are of course the best professionals in their field. And that is what Thomas Tuchel, England's coach, thought after Anthony Gordon's goal. Tuchel thought that if he builds a bunker with these machines when they are leading, it guarantees victory. As happened at altitude in Mexico, as it was against the Norwegian monsters. His guys are mental monsters. They stayed cool. Cleared, fought, won. Who can possibly stand against these super professionals - the best in the world?

Supreme power/Reuters

Who can? Messianics. Those who believe there is a supreme power behind them. Or as they say in football: Lionel Messi.

The Argentine magician - surrounded by his fans - received a mission: to break this bunker - of the best professionals in the world. This is not Cape Verde, this is not Egypt - this is like Switzerland, only much better. The challenge was accepted. Tuchel insisted on not addressing the change in the entire dynamic of the game. He did not recognize that the game had turned into a battle between the best safe-cracker in history and the most prestigious safe that stood before him.

This safe is built from players who in this World Cup ran the most, played the most, were hit the most. Holding out in a bunker for half an hour against Messi is excessive, because he will find the smallest hole and punish. Against any defense. And the Messianics with him know exactly where they will receive the ball from him. It is dictated from above.

And so it happened.

The blood was in the water/GettyImages

First, Messi quickly identified the collapse of England's structure after a set piece and passed to the right man to shoot from the right area - Enzo Fernandez. A pass, boom bang, equalizer in the 86th minute. England could not return to their game after that. And there was already blood in the water. When asked what distinguishes great players Tuchel replied: "They are like sharks. They are killers". And is there a bigger killer shark in history than him? Of course not.

Messi smelled blood and went for the kill. A few minutes before assisting the second goal, he delivered a perfect ball in a move that will probably not be recorded in history because it was disallowed. It was the perfect delivery, and with the right foot. A few minutes later, as mentioned, Lautaro Martinez received a ball from him straight to the forehead.

In the assist for the winning goal Messi lifted with his right foot. The player with the best left foot in the world delivered a perfect ball with his right foot. It was like a miraculous moment. Like the ability of Jesus to jump from Mount of Olives to Mount Tabor when an angry crowd ran after him. It was the move that cracks the code and opens the safe door in the 92nd minute. Game, set, match - Mr. Lionel Messi.

He has 33 involvements in World Cup goals. More than anyone else in history. By a margin. The next is Kylian Mbappe - 25. Ronaldo (the Brazilian) and Miroslav Klose were involved in 14 fewer goals than Messi, and they share third place in World Cup goal involvements (19). It is truly seeing a miracle.

Tuchel's impassable barrier/GettyImages

Before the first goal, England's chances according to Opta's supercomputer stood at 98.7%. Again, who can stand against these machines at all. Something divine was needed to change fate and that is what happened. The best player in the world took it upon himself to smash the algorithm. He finished the game with 9 successful dribbles and two assists - the first player in history to do so in a World Cup knockout match (since data collection began in 1966). At age 39. Like an angel strengthened by the power of God himself.

Since 2019 the Messianic Argentina has not known defeat. 14 consecutive victories in knockout matches in major tournaments. They are 7 from 7 in the 2026 World Cup. Lionel Messi, at age 39, is the second player in history to play in three World Cup finals (the first was Cafu). Enzo thanked God at the end of the match. No reason. He should thank the god of football who is in the dressing room with him.

And what about England? There are two teams that in the 21st century took the lead in a World Cup semi-final but lost: England in 2018 of Gareth Southgate against Croatia, and England of Tuchel in 2026. In 2018 England was a not fully mature team, but this time they should have managed the game better. And it did not happen.

It did not happen because of Messi. It did not happen because of Tuchel. But it also did not happen because of an English mental barrier. Since 1998 England has been eliminated in every knockout match against one of the top 10 FIFA ranked teams. 7 losses from 7 matches. This is a mental barrier that it is not certain Tuchel is the man who will break it. After all he is not the Messi of coaches. He does not perform miracles.