Messi set for first England meeting in World Cup semi-final

KANSAS CITY: Lionel Messi is poised to face England for the first time in his long international career when Argentina meet the European side in a World Cup semi-final in Atlanta on Wednesday.

According to Argentina's Football Association, the fixture is the kind of meeting long overdue in Messi's career. The 39-year-old has already played against every other World Cup-winning nation, including Brazil, Uruguay, Germany, Italy, Spain and France, but England had remained the one major omission.

The nearest he came to featuring against England was in a friendly in Geneva in November 2005, the last time the two national teams played each other. Argentina lost that game 3-2 after Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, who scored twice, overturned goals from Hernan Crespo and Walter Samuel. Messi did not play after having been sent off on his international debut against Hungary earlier that year.

Messi spoke about the significance of the contest after Argentina's 3-1 extra-time win over Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

It's special because they're a great team, a powerhouse, and it's always nice to play a team like that, a match of this kind.

He also said Argentina needed time to recover after a demanding run through the knockout phase.

We need to rest because we come from a lot of wear and tear, which the group obviously feels, and arrive in the best possible condition to keep doing what we've been doing: competing.

Argentina have now come through three successive tense knockout matches. Before beating Switzerland 3-1 after extra time in the quarter-finals, they defeated Cape Verde 3-2 after extra time in the round of 32 and came from 2-0 down with 11 minutes left to beat Egypt 3-2 in the last 16.

Against Switzerland, Messi set up Alexis Mac Allister for Argentina's opening goal. It was also the first World Cup match since Argentina's 2-0 group-stage victory over Poland at Qatar 2022 in which Messi did not score.

BBC pundit Micah Richards said England would have to deal with Messi's influence even if they held an athletic edge over Argentina.

England can outrun Argentina but they just have that little genius Messi. They all play for him. Everyone should be excited.

Marking him is impossible because he doesn't run back.

The semi-final adds another chapter to one of football's most emotionally charged rivalries, one shaped by sporting drama over decades as well as wider political tension. For Messi, it also brings him into a fixture that has featured some of Argentina's most memorable moments on the international stage.