Joe Cole predicts England victory over Argentina, claims Lionel Messi will be shut down

With the 2026 World Cup semifinal field officially locked in, a heavyweight showdown between England and Argentina takes center stage with a spot in the final on the line. Ahead of this monumental clash, former England international Joe Cole boldly predicted a victory for the Three Lions, claiming they have the perfect tactical blueprint to neutralize Lionel Messi.

“Messi facing England for the first time? We are going to put him to sleep. We are going to put him to sleep, 100%,” Cole said on the Rest Is Football podcast. “I am saying it right now, England will reach the World Cup Final. We have too much pace for Argentina‘s strengths, we are going to beat them, I can feel it in my bones.”

Fresh off a grueling victory over Norway, England appear to be finding their rhythm at the absolute perfect time. Anticipation for the match has skyrocketed, particularly after Messi openly expressed his own excitement regarding his first career international fixture against the English.

With the historic, deeply rooted head to head history between Argentina and England set to renew, both squads understand that this serves as the penultimate hurdle to capturing soccer immortality in North America.

Lionel Messi of Argentina

England stars react to Tuchel’s critical postgame assessment

The buildup to the semifinal has been complicated by internal team dynamics, following manager Thomas Tuchel’s postgame comments labeling the quarterfinal escape against Norway as ‘lucky.’ Pillars Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham did not hesitate to share contrasting perspectives on their managers blunt critique.

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On one hand, Kane took a diplomatic approach to the managers heavy handed honesty. While the captain acknowledged the squad was far from its best, he chose to internalize Tuchel’s comments as a motivational wake up call, taking a vastly different path than his superstar teammate.

Bellingham, however, offered a noticeably colder reaction, dismissing Tuchels “lucky” label with a blunt, one word “whatever” response. The contrasting public stances have instantly sparked debate regarding internal friction within the English camp at the worst possible time.