All eyes on Bellingham, Messi as England battle Argentina for final slot
Jude Bellingham will be hoping to stop Lionel Messi from guiding Argentina to a second consecutive final as England slugs it out with Argentina in the 2026 World Cup semi-final.
The battle to determine Spain’s opponents in the final on Sunday kicks off on Wednesday night with Bellingham on the cusp of history and Messi hoping for a last victorious dance in the tournament.
Both players have been impressive for their respective countries, leading every metrics ahead of the showdown at the Atlanta Stadium.
Messi is not new to dominant performances in the tournament, he is currently the highest goal scorer at the World Cup with 21 goals and 10 assists.
He is also the first player to win the World Cup Golden Ball twice after earning the prizes in 2014 and 2022.
At the 2026 edition, Messi is showing his quality again with eight goals and two assists from six matches to become the joint top scorer alongside Kylian Mbappe.
He will be hoping to extend his tally and to lead his country to another World Cup final for a chance to become the first captain since Cafu (Brazil, 2002) to successfully defend the FIFA World Cup.
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Can Bellingham Make England Dream?
Bellingham has been England’s best player at the tournament and he is also their joint top scorer with six goals from six matches to further establish his importance to the Three Lions.
The quest to end the country’s long term World Cup drought rests on his shoulders and he has lived up to expectations with his match-winning performances especially in the knockout stages.
The 23-year-old is the top-scoring midfielder at the tournament with six goals; only forwards Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland have scored more – no midfielder has ever scored more at a World Cup.
He became only the second player after Pelé to score braces in consecutive World Cup knockout matches at such a young age after his efforts against Mexico and Norway.
He is the first player to score two or more goals in consecutive knockout stage games at a single World Cup since Maradona’s great tournament in 1986.
Of his 12 goals for England, nine have been at major tournaments. Five have put England ahead and two have been equalisers.
Bellingham tops the following stats for England in the tournament:
Goals
Goal involvements
Big chances created
Successful take-ons
Sprints
Runs in behind.
Meanwhile, both players have been talking tough ahead of the encounter.
Messi, who is preparing to face England for the first time in his career, revealed that it will be special to face the Three Lions.
He said: “Playing against England is special because they are a powerhouse, and matches against powerhouses are always special.
“It’s the first time I’m going to play against them. I’ve played against everyone except England, so it will be nice for that reason too.
“We’ll experience it for what it is: a World Cup semi-final against a great team, and we’ll try to arrive in the best possible shape to compete again.”
Meanwhile, Bellingham is looking forward to leading England to the World Cup final.
He said: “I’m just trying to deliver what I can for my team. I know what I can do for this team and I’ll keep doing it with everything I’ve got left.”
It promises to be an interesting battle of the number 10s. The game kicks of at 8:00p.m Nigeria time.
