England vs Argentina today: Belize, who are you backing?

By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): The wait is over. England and Argentina, football’s most storied rivals, meet today at 1:00 p.m. Belize time in a World Cup semi-final, with the winner advancing to face Spain in Sunday’s final. Across the Jewel, where the Albiceleste command an army of supporters, the tension is already unbearable.

Remarkably, this is the first time the two nations have faced each other in more than two decades. Their last senior meeting came all the way back in November 2005, a friendly in Geneva that England snatched 3-2 with two late Michael Owen goals. Their last World Cup encounter was the 2002 group stage in Sapporo, where David Beckham buried a penalty for a 1-0 England win, sweet revenge for his infamous red card in Argentina’s 1998 shootout triumph. And looming over it all, of course, is 1986, the Hand of God and the Goal of the Century, the day Diego Maradona authored the most controversial and the most beautiful goals in World Cup history in a single afternoon.

Buried in that history is a stat Argentine fans would rather not dwell on: Argentina have not beaten England since that 1986 quarter-final, forty years ago. Today, with a World Cup final on the line and Lionel Messi likely playing his last dance on this stage, they get the chance to end the drought in the grandest way imaginable.

The form guide makes it a coin flip with an English lean. England, ranked fourth in the world, have won ugly and won often, surviving Mexico at the Azteca and ending Haaland’s Norway 2-1, with Harry Kane on six goals. Argentina, the world number one and reigning champions, own the tournament’s best attack with 14 goals, but have flirted with disaster twice, needing a stoppage-time miracle against Egypt and extra time against Switzerland. The numbers give England a slight edge, which will surprise exactly no one in Belize who plans to ignore them.

There is personal glory at stake too. With Kylian Mbappé eliminated on seven goals, Messi, also on seven, can seize the golden boot outright with a strike today, while Kane lurks one behind.

The winner meets Spain, conquerors of France, at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, July 19, at 1:00 p.m. Belize time. The loser watches the final like the rest of us.

So the only question that matters, Belize: England or Argentina, who are you supporting today at 1:00 p.m.? Declare yourself in the comments.

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