Messi the maestro drags Argentina to the final as England fall late again

Argentina came from behind to beat England 2-1 in Atlanta and reach the World Cup final, Lionel Messi the man of the match with assists for both goals. Anthony Gordon had given England a second-half lead against the run of play, but Enzo Fernández equalised with a long-range strike and Lautaro Martínez headed a stoppage-time winner, both created by Messi. Argentina meet Spain in the final; England face France for third.

Lionel Messi is going to a World Cup final again, and he dragged Argentina there almost by force of will. The champions came from behind to beat England 2-1 in Atlanta, Messi the man of the match with a hand in both goals, and the old king now stands ninety minutes from a glorious, barely believable encore.

For an hour England defied the siege. Argentina had sixty-four percent of the ball and battered away at a stubborn English wall, but it was the underdogs who struck first: on fifty-five minutes Anthony Gordon finished off a rare England break to put them ahead against the run of play. Thomas Tuchel's men, dreaming of a first World Cup final since 1966, dug in.

But Argentina kept coming, and Argentina have Messi. On eighty-five minutes his pass released Enzo Fernández, who lashed a long-range strike beyond Jordan Pickford to level, and the dam England had held for so long finally cracked.

The winner, when it came, was pure theatre. Deep into stoppage time Messi conjured one more moment of genius, a delicate delivery that Lautaro Martínez rose to head home. 2-1, from a goal down, in the ninety-second minute. The champions had found a way, as champions and Messi so often do.

This was his night from first minute to last. Two assists, the conductor of everything Argentina did well, and quite possibly the man who will define this tournament to its very end. If this is Messi's last World Cup, he intends to leave on his own terms, and the final now beckons.

For England, it is semi-final heartbreak once more, and a cruelly familiar one. They led, they were outplayed for long stretches, and they were undone at the death by the greatest player of his generation. Tuchel's side drop to Saturday's third-place play-off against France, the two beaten favourites left to contest the consolation.

And so we have our final, and what a final it is: Argentina against Spain on Sunday, the holders against a resurgent La Roja, Messi against the teenage Lamine Yamal, two generations of genius colliding for the crown. A Golden Boot subplot rides on it too, with Messi and Mbappé level on eight but only Messi still in the showpiece. For Kenya, the old argument roars back to life. Messi ametupeleka fainali karibu peke yake, na mjadala wa GOAT umewaka tena kila sebule Kenya: Messi has taken them to the final almost single-handedly, and the GOAT debate is ablaze again in every Kenyan living room. Follow the finale on our bracket.