World Cup Semi Finals Preview
48 teams started the tournament, now just four remain in with a chance of being crowned the 2026 FIFA World Cup Champions.
On Tuesday night, two European giants will renew a fierce rivalry as France and Spain meet in the first semi-final. Then on Wednesday, a fixture with a long and controversial World Cup history will see Argentina and England lock horns in Atlanta in the second semi final.
Let’s now take a look ahead to both these games.
France vs. Spain
- Venue: Arlington Stadium, Dallas
- Kick off: 8pm on Tuesday 14th July
- Referee: Ivan Barton (El Salvador)
Both these teams were strongly fancied to reach the semi-finals in the top half of the draw and by and large, both have had smooth progress through to this stage of the tournament.
France in particular have been in outstanding form, with their attacking quartet of Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Kylian Mbappe firing them comfortably through the group stage (Ahead of Senegal, Iraq and Norway) and past knockout phase opponents Sweden, Paraguay and Morocco to reach the semi-final stage.
Didier Deschamps’ team have yet to concede a goal in the knockout phase and have the joint-leading goalscorer in the tournament heading into this clash with Mbappe tied with Lionel Messi on eight goals.
Spain started slowly in their group, drawing with Cape Verde, before finding their feet with wins over Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. They despatched Austria, Portugal and then Belgium to earn their spot in the semi-finals.
Defensively, the Spanish have conceded just one goal in the tournament so far, but they have left it late on in their last two games to progress, Arsenal man Mikel Merino coming off the bench in both games to score a late winner to put Spain through.
This game will see the tournament’s most devastating attack take on the best defence and it will be intriguing to see whether Spain’s keep-the-ball philosophy is enough to dent France/’s attacking threat.
Our prediction
This will be a close contest. Spain’s defence is probably the most adept to stop France in the tournament, and the Spanish are a real danger on the counter attack. However, I’m backing that fearsome French attack to do enough damage to land the win in extra time.
France 2-1 Spain (After extra time)
Argentina vs. England
- Venue: Atlanta Stadium, Georgia
- Kick off: 8pm on Wednesday 14th July
- Referee: To Be Announced
Old rivalries will be renewed as Argentina and England clash in Atlanta on Wednesday. This fixture has a long and often controversial World Cup history, from the Hand of God, Beckham’s sending off, to Beckham’s redemption in Japan, this is a fixture that does not need any added hype.
Argentina have won all of their games at the tournament so far. Inspired by the 39-year-old Lionel Messi, Wins of Algeria, Austria and Jordan put them into the Round of 32 where dramatic wins over Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland, all with elements of controversy, have seen them progress into the semi-finals for the second successive World Cup Finals.
An extra-time win over Cape Verde was followed by a dramatic 3-2 win over Egypt, where they came from 2-0 down with 12 minutes to go, to clinch a 3-2 victory. Another extra time win followed over Switzerland, who were reduced to ten men following Breel Embolo’s 72nd minute sending off.
England began with a 4-2 win over Croatia followed by a draw with Ghana and a battling win over Panama. A dramatic win over DR Congo followed in the knockout phase and then a 3-2 win over Mexico, in Mexico was arguably England’s best performance of the tournament. However, they were fortunate to beat Norway 2-1 after extra time in their quarter final tie.
Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane have both scored six goals for Thomas Tuchel’s team and both will need to be firing on all cylinders here against one of their most fierce rivals.
Our prediction
Games between Argentina and England are never anything less than dramatic and with so much at stake, don’t expect this one to be any different. Both teams have ridden their luck to reach this stage but in terms of depth, England have the edge here.
Argentina 1-3 England
