England was six minutes from a World Cup final. Then Lionel Messi did what he does.
Argentina erased a 1-0 deficit in a blink on Wednesday night, scoring twice in just over six minutes to flip a semifinal that felt like it was slipping away. The defending champions escaped with a 2-1 win, leaving England stunned and their captain, Harry Kane, visibly wrecked.
Anthony Gordon had put England ahead early in the second half with a sharp finish. It was the kind of goal that makes you believe. The kind that sends a nation dreaming. But instead of pushing for a second, England sat back. They got conservative. And against a team with Messi on the field, conservative is dangerous.
Argentina spent the next 30 minutes hammering at the door. Missed chance. Another miss. A header over the bar. A block on the line. It felt like one of those nights where the soccer gods just say no. Then Enzo Fernandez finally broke through in the 84th minute, equalizing off a Messi assist that was pure sleight of hand.
The knockout punch came four minutes later
Lautaro Martinez, who had been quiet all night, got on the end of another Messi ball and buried it. 2-1. The stadium tilted. England’s World Cup dream collapsed in a pile of mistakes and brilliance that felt inevitable in hindsight.
After the final whistle, Kane didn’t hide. He stood in front of a camera and let it out.
“Just gutted for the boys,” he said. “Gutted for everyone. The team, the staff, the fans. We played a good game for the large majority of it. When we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on, which at this level is not enough. Just gutted because we’ve worked so hard to be here. The lads have given every last bit of sweat, blood, tears, whatever it is. To fall short like we did today is just gutting.”
There’s not much else to say when you’re that close and it gets ripped away. England had Argentina on the ropes. They had the crowd. They had the momentum. And then they didn’t.
For Messi, it’s another chapter in a story that keeps adding them. Two assists when his team needed everything. Argentina moves on to the final. England goes home asking what if, and Kane carries that look on his face for the next four years.
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