Why This World Cup’s Semifinals Could Be the Best Ever Played

The ball curved off Julian Alvarez’s foot and into the top corner against Switzerland. It was the kind of goal that makes you forget to breathe for a second. Up in FIFA’s VVIP box, CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez grabbed Argentine football chief Claudio Tapia like they were old friends at a backyard barbecue. Dominguez is Paraguayan. That’s how big that moment felt.

That strike gave us something the tournament had been missing: a heavyweight fight. For a World Cup that stretched across 48 teams, the knockout rounds had felt surprisingly thin on genuine blockbusters. Spain-Portugal was the only real super-clasico before the semis. Now we’ve got two of them. And a final that could be even bigger.

The Numbers Are Kind of Wild

FIFA’s PR machine has already latched onto the fact that this is the first time the four top-ranked teams have made the semifinals. But here’s the one that actually jumps out: it’s also the first time since 1990 that all four semifinalists are previous World Cup winners. That 1990 tournament in Italy is still considered one of the best ever. This quartet might top it. Depends on the games themselves.

Go back through recent history. The 2014 semis gave us Argentina-Netherlands, which ended 0-0. 2006 had the quality but was all European and played in a more cautious era. This time around, you’ve got contrasting styles, generational stars, and storylines that feel personal.

France-Spain Is the Real Final on Paper

Even before things escalated on Saturday, people were calling France-Spain the true final. The winner likely takes the whole thing. France has the best defensive record. Spain has the best scoring record. And stylistically, they could not be more different.

Spain has perfected Pep Guardiola’s positional game better than any international team ever has. They move like a machine. France, under Didier Deschamps, has leaned into something looser and more intuitive. It’s an orchestra versus free jazz. Two neighbors with history. Someone already dug up Adrien Rabiot’s quotes about Lamine Yamal from Euro 2024, where he told the kid to do more. That kind of tension doesn’t fade.

Argentina-England Is Bigger Than Soccer

But all that drama feels small next to Argentina and England. These two haven’t met since 2005. Last World Cup meeting was 2002. The 40-year anniversary of the 1986 quarterfinal is coming up. That game still haunts both countries for different reasons.

Argentina’s fans still sing about the Malvinas in their chants. For England, this is a shot at finally getting back to a World Cup final after 60 years of waiting. Lionel Messi has never played against England. That sentence is absurd when you think about it. But it’s true. This will be his first time facing them, at age 38, with everything on the line.

Neither team has played at the level of Spain or France. Argentina has been rescued by Messi too many times. England has needed Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane to pull wins out of nowhere. That dysfunction might make this the more entertaining game. You could get a blowout either way. Or penalties. Or both.

FIFA will take whatever happens. Every top scorer is still alive. Messi. Mbappe. Kane. Bellingham. Michael Olise. Ousmane Dembele. Even Alvarez is still there. The only thing missing is Erling Haaland, and Norway didn’t qualify. Everybody else showed up.

This is the first time in a long time that the final four genuinely feel like the four best teams. Not just the luckiest ones. That has to count for something. If the games deliver half the drama of the tournament so far, people will be talking about these semifinals for decades. Maybe longer.