Argentina and England 'wrestle' for dominance in first half of semifinal

The busiest man on the pitch in the first half of the FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinal was the referee Ismail Elfath, who had to blow his whistle every few minutes to restore order after a series of fouls.

The game at Atlanta Stadium turned scrappy early on, drawing comparisons with the fiery 2022 World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and the Netherlands, which produced a combined 48 fouls and a record 18 yellow cards.

In the first 20 minutes alone, eight fouls were committed, with Argentina responsible for five of them. The South Americans appeared intent on imposing themselves physically, while England looked to create openings through quick, fluid attacking moves.

England's best chance came in the 19th minute when Morgan Rogers combined well with Reece James on the overlap, but Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez comfortably gathered James' cross from the right.

Argentina also threatened with a run into the box, but Lionel Messi was flagged offside before the move could develop.

Despite the game's physical nature and frequent fouls, the first yellow card did not arrive until the 37th minute. It took a foul on Messi by Elliot Anderson to finally prompt the referee into action. The challenge sparked an immediate reaction from the Argentina players, who surrounded the official, but the referee made no mistake in showing Anderson a deserved yellow card.

England carved out another opportunity in the 33rd minute when John Stones rose at the back post under pressure from Emiliano Martínez, but headed Declan Rice's free-kick wide of the upright.

Argentina had their chance a few minutes later. In the 38th minute, Enzo Fernandez unleashed a powerful long-range strike that flew narrowly wide of the top-right corner of Jordan Pickford's goal.

England continued to produce some promising attacking moves but failed to find a way through Argentina's resolute defence.

When the half-time whistle blew, remarkably, neither side had managed to register a single shot on target despite an entertaining and fiercely contested opening 45 minutes.

Lineup:

England: Jordan Pickford, John Stones, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Djed Spence, Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Morgan Rogers, Harry Kane, Anthony Gordon

Argentina: Emiliano Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico, Lisandro Martinez, Cristian Romero, Nahuel Molina, Leandro Paredes, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Julian Alvarez, Lionel Messi, Giuliano Simeone