Lionel Messi played an instrumental role in Argentina’s 2-1 comeback victory over England in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-final at Atlanta on Wednesday. The superstar didn’t score a goal, but his brilliant assists decided the fate of La Albiceleste. Messi provided a pass to Enzo Fernandez, who scored the equaliser. After that, the 39-year-old football icon delivered a sensational cross to Lautaro Martinez for Argentina’s winning goal in stoppage time. While the England players kept Messi heavily marked, with players surrounding him, the veteran still showed his brilliance on the ground multiple times.

In one of the standout moments from the game, Messi beat five players in England’s half with his dribbling skills. Such great was the run from Messi that Elliot Anderson had to commit a deliberate foul to stop him.

Watch it here:

No exagero, probablemente mi jugada favorita de Messi. Sencillamente perfecta pic.twitter.com/FQuVMEydsw

— BCELONA (@Bargcelona10) July 16, 2026

With one more win, he’ll be delivering another World Cup trophy to Argentina. Messi didn’t add to his tournament-leading goal total, but the 39-year-old assisted on two late strikes that carried La Albiceleste to another stunning comeback.

Eight days after an improbable rally against Egypt in the round of 16, Messi returned to Atlanta to produce another stellar moment in a career that might already be the best of anyone to play the sport.

England were surely envisioning their first World Cup title since their only triumph six decades ago after a 55th-minute goal from Anthony Gordon.

But Messi and his blue-clad teammates, as they have shown over and over again, are never done. Now it’s on to face Spain in the final on Sunday, with a chance of becoming the first repeat champion since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.

In the 85th minute, with England hanging on for dear life, Messi played a short corner, immediately received the return pass and spotted Enzo Fernandez lurking in the middle of the field, 25 yards from goal. Fernandez ripped a curling shot past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to level the score.

At that point, it seemed inevitable that Argentina would pull out the victory.

And that’s just what happened, with Messi again the orchestrator. Two minutes into stoppage time, he suddenly turned on the speed as he raced towards the byline, gaining enough space to send a pinpoint cross into the area at the back post. The ball cleared six English players, setting up Lautaro Fernandez to effortlessly head home the winning goal after slipping between two defenders.

From there, it was just a matter of protecting the lead, which Argentina did comfortably.

When the final whistle blew, Messi dropped to his knees in the middle of the field, pumping his fists.

(With AP Inputs)

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Argentina, never say die.

Once again, the Argentines came from behind, this time against England, to win 2-1 in the World Cup semifinal and keep the dream of repeating as champions alive. Argentina was held off the scoresheet for 85 minutes, and finally broke through when Lionel Messi set up Enzo Fernandez just outside of the penalty box, and the 25-year-old hooked a shot around England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford into the back of the net to knot it at 1-1.

Lautaro Martinez then played the hero as he came off the bench and into Argentine soccer lore by scoring the winning goal in stoppage. In the 92nd minute, Messi recorded his second assist after he gathered a loose ball and played a beautiful pass into the penalty area, where Martinez was waiting unmarked. Martinez headed the ball past Pickford to send the Argentine fans into a frenzy as they completed the comeback.

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Lautaro Martinez of Argentina scores his team’s second goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Semi Final match between England and Argentina at Atlanta Stadium on July 15, 2026, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Alex Livesey/Danehouse/Getty Images)

England tried to tie it with the remaining stoppage time, but they were unable to muster up a quality chance.

The first half was largely uneventful, as it was the first game since 1966 in which neither team recorded a shot in the first half, according to the FOX broadcast.

Anthony Gordon got the scoring started when he buried a cross from Morgan Rogers to put England on the board first in the 55th minute with an acrobatic finish. Harry Kane sparked the counter with a long pass that left the Argentina defense flummoxed for the first time all game.

However, that would end up being the lone true scoring opportunity of the game for the Three Lions. After England got on the board, Argentina’s pressure was relentless, but England was able to stave off the Argentine attack for about 30 minutes.

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Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez scores past England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford during the World Cup semifinal in Atlanta on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (Stephanie Scarbrough/AP)

England defender Djed Spence made a fantastic tackle in the 58th minute to help keep Argentina off the board after a breakaway from Giuliano Simeone.

Argentina goalie Emilio Martinez came up big in the 66th minute by making his first save of the game on Declan Rice to keep the score 1-0 and avoid putting Argentina in a multi-goal hole. After the save, Argentina quickly countered and went back on the attack.

Pickford, England’s all-time leader in games played at the World Cup, made a remarkable save on the goal line with a header from Nicolás González just before the hydration break to preserve England’s 1-0 lead.

Alexis Mac Allister kept the pressure on for Argentina when his header in the 76th minute rang off the post. Pickford made his fourth save of the game when he clipped Fernandez’s shot in the 86th minute, but the Argentine broke through later in the minute.

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Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez reacts after Argentina’s win over England in the World Cup semifinal in Atlanta on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (Jacob Kupferman/AP)

Off a corner kick, Messi set up Fernandez just outside of the box, and the 25-year-old hooked a shot around Pickford into the back of the net.

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With the win, Argentina has the opportunity to become the first back-to-back World Cup winner since Brazil did it in 1958 and 1962.

They will face Spain in the final on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

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Arcane makes her way into the playable roster of Arknights: Endfield, and comes with quite possibly the most unique kit till date. She deals Nature damage, wields Arts Unit as weapon, and can switch between two combat modes based on her stat distribution. Being the first Nature DPS unit in the game, and having the ability to support other Cryo and Nature characters, she has a lot of viability in the current sandbox.

Arcane is most definitely a character that new, veterans, and returning players should consider getting. However, let us break down everything related to her so you can decide for yourself.

Should you pull for Arcane in Arknights: Endfield?

Arcane in Arknights: Endfield has a very high pull value, and possibly the most out of any other characters that came out recently. As mentioned earlier, she has two combat modes, one being DPS, and the other being support. The way you can switch between these two is to have either Intellect stat higher than Will, or vice versa, respectively.

Hence, you have two characters in one unit, granting you tons of damage output on one hand, alongside supporting your allies with Corrosion status and grouping on the other.

Arcane’s kit easily sets her up as meta for multiple years down the line, as her support playstyle cannot even be fully utilized with her release, due to the game’s lack of Nature DPS characters. So when one or multiple Nature DPS units get released in the future, Arcane will surely have a part to play.

However, her combo skill deals Cryo Susceptibility, which is great for current Cryo teams.

Here’s what she offers in terms of pros and cons for your account:

Pros:

• Consists of two main forms, DPS and Support, effectively providing two character kits as one unit.
• First Nature DPS in the game that scales easily off F2P characters.
• Nature Support kit can be viable with more Nature DPS characters that releases later on, making her relevant for long-term.
• Arcane can clear every endgame content without her dupes.
• She has a lot of versatility in both her modes, from nuking enemies in DPS mode, to inflicting status and grouping enemies in support mode.

Cons:

• Due to her two combat modes, you might need to farm double gear sets if you want to build both versions.
• Arcane’s stat distribution can often lead to some annoyances when crafting gear pieces, or equipping weapons.
• Arcane’s support mode needs Last Rite or Yvonne in all scenarios, be it her best or F2P team. If you do not own either of those two characters, you have no choice but to build her as a DPS unit.

Overall, Arcane’s Pros far outweighs the Cons, and you should definitely get her in the current 1.4 patch.

Check out our other articles on the game: