It's England vs. Argentina in the World Cup semifinals. It's also Lionel Messi vs. Jude Bellingham.
The battle of the two No. 10s could be pivotal to deciding Wednesday's match in Atlanta.
“We know how good Messi is,” England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford said of the Argentina great, whose enduring brilliance has been on show again even at the age of 39.
Messi and Bellingham have been inspirational in their teams' respective runs to the final four. And Wednesday's match may well be determined by which one has the biggest say on the day.
Messi is playing England for the first time in his storied career.
“He's scored so many goals and contributed to so many goals as well throughout his career, it's great to finally go up against him,” Pickford said.
Messi is already considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time and he seems to be on a mission to settle the debate about where he stands in the history of the sport.
Already the all-time top scorer in the World Cup with 21 goals, he could surpass Argentina icon Diego Maradona by leading his country to back-to-back world titles.
His eight goals in the tournament so far have been pivotal to Argentina's run and his moments of magic have dragged his team through big scares against Cape Verde and Egypt.
“It’s just incredible his campaign, this tournament, how he carries that team it’s just, absolutely incredible,” England coach Thomas Tuchel said of Messi. “There are no words ... left for this kind of achievement, the responsibility and the quality that he shows again in this tournament.”
Argentina's World Cup triumph in 2022 saw Messi emulate Maradona by captaining his country to the title. Maradona lifted the trophy in 1986 and was runner-up with Argentina four years later when it lost to West Germany in the final.
“Trying to draw inspiration from what Diego did is difficult. Only Leo can do that,” said Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister. “Diego is a national icon for us, and hopefully, we can achieve something similar to what that team did.”
Doubts about Bellingham
England has a talismanic No.10 of its own in the form of Bellingham, who is at the opposite end of his career to Messi.
At the age of 23, Real Madrid star Bellingham is already playing in his second World Cup and his fourth major tournament for England. He has six goals, including two each in the last two rounds against Mexico and Norway.
Not bad for a player who was dropped by Tuchel in the lead-up to the World Cup, prompting debate about whether he'd even be in England's starting XI.
There is no doubt anymore about a player who Tuchel described as "world-class” after two goals against Norway in the quarterfinals.
Bellingham and captain Harry Kane, who also has six goals, have spearheaded England's run to the semifinals.
Tuchel said the duo had delivered “like crazy” at the World Cup.
It is Bellingham, however, who has provided the biggest moments in the last two games.
“We all strongly believe it’s a team sport and no one is doing it alone, but of course we are also relying on the world-class moments of world-class players,” Tuchel said.
The key to victory Both England and Argentina will need to find a way to limit the impact of each other's big stars.
Tuchel said he had considered trying to man-mark Messi by deploying one player to shadow him throughout the game.
“Everyone knows the spaces where he wants to show up. If you analyze the matches, you feel like he sees stuff just earlier than anyone else on the field,” Tuchel said. “I think we found some patterns in their game, but if you close the patterns he will find maybe a new one and create a new one. That’s a super strength. That’s just what it is.”
If Messi is the main focus of England's attention, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has to contend with the double threat of Bellingham and Kane.
“We’re facing great players, two of the best in the world,” Scaloni said. “We will try our best to neutralize them. We have our weapons and we will try to prevent them from having a good game.”
A fierce rivalry
England vs. Argentina is a fierce rivalry that goes beyond the football field, with tensions also relating to the 1982 conflict over the Falkland Islands.
There have been numerous clashes at the World Cup.
Argentina captain Antonio Rattin, whose death was announced on Saturday, was sent off in a bad-tempered quarterfinal match against eventual champion England in 1966.
Maradona scored his infamous goal in 1986 - and England also felt aggrieved when David Beckham was sent off for kicking out against Diego Simeone in 1998 before losing in a penalty shootout.
Most recently England beat Argentina in the group phase in 2002, with Beckham scoring from the penalty spot.
“If a fixture provides so many iconic moments you cannot just say it’s just another football match, but as a coach we do exactly that,” Tuchel said. “We don’t speak about the historic events. We don’t speak about the iconic moments.”
One of those iconic moments was Maradona's second goal in the 2-1 win against England in the quarterfinals win in 1986 when he dribbled the ball from the halfway line before scoring.
“That will be forever in our hearts. It was just such a beautiful goal,” Scaloni said. "Anybody who loves football will remember that in the best way possible.
“It was just a coincidence that it was against England, but had it been against anybody else, it would have been just as beautiful.”
