England v Argentina | World Cup Semi Final | 15 July 2026

Off_it said:

The thing about this "Malvinas" banner is that once FIFA sit down and look at it in the context of their own rules they will quite clearly .......... oh .......... hang on. I'm being silly here, aren't I?

Yes you probably are, but expect FIFA will give Bellingham a 3 match ban for clipping that bloke round the the back of the head after the game.

guinnessaddick said:

The one player who wouldn’t pass the CL height test scores with his head.

I can hear Steve Brown doing a post mortem on some of the goals Charlton would regularly concede 5 years ago, and complaining about players sitting deep, marking space, rather than an opponent. 

And it's no point just having a giant defender out there, if the opponents are good enough to just bypass him with their crosses. You do have to try and stop the crosses coming in, which means having midfielders out there pressing the ball, not everyone just sitting in the box.

guinnessaddick said:

Good to see Argentina being good sports, Rice could’ve been sent off 3 times.

Rice is being a good sport ?

He had a bug and is trying not to pass the germs on by covering his mouth. 

Or unless Declan has learnt some Spanish Swear words, because Messi doesn't speak or understand English.
Chelsea wanker and Liverpool wanker are fair comments to Fernandez and McAllister respectively.

Chizz said:

If FIFA don't suitably punish Argentina for their flagrant breach of both the FIFA Stadium Code of Conduct and the FIFA Disciplinary Code (which, of course, they won't) then matters should be taken into our own hands.  

The offending players - Lisandro Martínez, Giovani Lo Celso, Nicolás Otamendi, Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi - should have their permission to play in the Premier League revoked, by means of a revocation of their work permits.  This would immediately affect Martinez and Romero.  Additionally, the Government should suspend any permission to visit the UK on all the players, potentially affecting Lo Celso and Otamendi should Real Betis or Benfica be drawn to play against clubs in the UK, respectively.  

If FIFA do nothing at all, then the FA, Scottish FA, Welsh FA and Northern Ireland FA should lobby UEFA to leave FIFA and organise its own "world championship" to run alongside the next "FIFA World Cup". 

The more I think about this game,the more wound up I am getting,just look at their first goal.Enzo Fernandez plays in the premier league,for Chelsea,Reece Williams plays in the same side,It is obvious to all and sundry that the guy has a bit of a shot on him,Did no one point this out,maybe his own team mate,maybe a scout or someone looking at opposing players.One minute before he scored,he was allowed the freedom of the park to shoot ,a vicious effort tipped over.The resultant corner ,quickly taken,who is totally unmarkedl in an identical position with even more freedom,yep,Fernandez,he had time to control the ball,line it up,aim and fire,to a man of his a ability a doddle.
I honestly dont recall Kane being in their penalty area once during open play,he was too busy running back and doing a midfield job.
Look at the ball crossing situation,messi had the freedom of the park and made good use of it,almost every cross caused havoc,a Pickford save,a post hit 2 headers that went just wide,they could have scored 3-4 times through players 4-5 inches shorter than our defenders.
Contrast our crosses,hardly any from open play but we had a few set pieces which just about reached the first defender and caused no threat at all.
Both central defenders booked early,we know Romero has a red card in him,so put him under,run at him ,throw some balls up in the air at him pressure him ,no he had a free ride,probably didnt even need a shower after the game.
The more I think about it,Saka was unfit and a gamble,Gibbs White should have gone in his place,Reece Williams never looked fit,arnold should have gone,and his passing could well have been the difference.We were crap in  the air in defence,none of our central defenders are noted for their aerial ability,Harry would have solved that.
Still should be a good final.

guinnessaddick said:

Good to see Argentina being good sports, Rice could’ve been sent off 3 times.

If you're aggressively shouting at someone with your hand over mouth, as if you're trying to hide that you're saying something abusive or racist, then that's a red card offence.

That doesn't apply here, or in photos of Bellingham elsewhere in the tournament.

Chizz said:

If FIFA don't suitably punish Argentina for their flagrant breach of both the FIFA Stadium Code of Conduct and the FIFA Disciplinary Code (which, of course, they won't) then matters should be taken into our own hands.  

The offending players - Lisandro Martínez, Giovani Lo Celso, Nicolás Otamendi, Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi - should have their permission to play in the Premier League revoked, by means of a revocation of their work permits.  This would immediately affect Martinez and Romero.  Additionally, the Government should suspend any permission to visit the UK on all the players, potentially affecting Lo Celso and Otamendi should Real Betis or Benfica be drawn to play against clubs in the UK, respectively.  

If FIFA do nothing at all, then the FA, Scottish FA, Welsh FA and Northern Ireland FA should lobby UEFA to leave FIFA and organise its own "world championship" to run alongside the next "FIFA World Cup". 

Bit much over a banner to be honest! 

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

No team has ever won the world cup with a foreign manager.

That isn't going to change this time either, as Scaloni and de la Fuente are both from the country they manage.

Helmut Schön, 1974

stoneroses19 said:

2121 said:

Tbh we sing about ww2. Is that any better? Both are wrong. Move on. 

England players have never sang about WWll though. Argentina players did have this banner. 

You can’t bring fans in to the conversation, otherwise every single club and country have done something wrong. The conversation is about players. 

Yeah thats fair enough 

thickandthin63 said:

guinnessaddick said:

The one player who wouldn’t pass the CL height test scores with his head.

Eight of our players in the area four at the back of the goal area and the shortest man in the box gets a free header,thats not bad tactics that is just diabolical defending .

1. Before the tournament we would all have said that defense is our weakest area 

2. Asking any defense to defend for 30 minutes with no alleviation of pressure, just constant attacks, will lead to confusion and misunderstandings for any team

The players were like lambs led by bad tactics to the slaughter