Lionel Messi spoke about Argentina playing against England at the World Cup.
Messi and Argentina will play England in the semi finals of the World Cup on Wednesday. This will be the first time that the 39 year old plays a match against England. Speaking to the media after Argentina’s 3-1 win against Switzerland, here is what he had to say:
“Obviously everything that I have seen and remember is from video. We Argentines, we see and we relive. But I believe that this team is used to playing these matches, no matter the opponent.
“Playing against England is special because they’re good. Personally speaking, it’s the first time I will play against them.
“I have played against everyone except England. That will be nice too and I want to live it as it is. A semi final of a World Cup against a great national team. To try to get there in the best way possible to go back to competing.”
I’ve waited so long for an Argentina vs. England world cup match, and now my team is playing like this when it finally happened.
I’ve been reading English fans on Reddit, and many of them don’t even rate this Argentina side. Some even think they got an easier semifinal than Switzerland. It hurts to see how much respect Argentina has lost over the last three matches. Remember the same fans having conversation about meeting Argentina and talking about us with fear before capo verde game
I really hope Scaloni changes the core lineup and brings in some fresh, high intensity players. It’s becoming painful to watch De Paul and Enzo put in underwhelming performances and let the team down. Give Simeone and Lo Celso/ Barco a chance instead.
We need to play with more grit, intensity, and physicality. Where has the typical South American ruggedness gone? We showed it against Brazil and Uruguay in 2025, but now we’ve lost that edge at the worst possible time.
When the management does not give players a second opportunity after match winning performances, while continuing to give failing players chance after chance, players lose their incentive to play well.
Imagine how Lo Celso et al are feeling watching this series of dismal performances while being forced to sit on the sidelines. Must be hell on morale.
I can’t rest until first training. There is no way we can go same approach as last game NO WAY! I just feel like we should go back how we played in qualifying 4-3-3 with Almada coz England game will be more suited for this kinda game. We can hit them transition and he can defend against wingers. I know many critical about him but I think this game is much more suited to him and yes he made the miss which was a great save from gk but he actually made the run and he was direct when he came on and actually made some good plays. Like it or not but he is the closest thing we have in Fideo sadly and only that way we can play little bit better like Qatar. I didn’t know what we were doing last game ? There were tactics we can see which is wining second ball and bypassing their press with long ball which was working a bit when Messi and Macca were running for second ball for few instances but after that we were just sitting deep to defend maybe coz of the physical aspect of Swiss team. They were superior to us. We need to be better in handing ball against England as we can’t give them ball or they will hurt us for sure. I hope at-least there is one change to make some cover for England wing play. England is much better than Norway to be honest against us coz i honestly think we would have struggled against Norway more. Norway out played England and goal was disallowed. Probably for the first time we going as second favourites against England. All the pundits and analysts basically writing us off . I can take only positivity from this game is Lautaro and Alvarez scored and hopefully they gets some confidence back in right time.
Nah! Almada is no better than Pavon or Meza. I am done with Almada having more chemistry with the team BS . If Nico Paz had come on instead of Almada yesterday, with the entire Swiss team camped inside their own box, I am 100% sure the game would’ve been over long before we needed that Alvarez banger!!
At Como, Paz was directly involved in 7-8 goals, during a the start of serie a and was one of the biggest reasons they qualified for the Champions League. Yet Scaloni keeps leaving him on the bench while Almada gets chance after chance to do absolutely nothing.
For me, Almada should never wear an Argentina shirt again. Against England, I would drop both Enzo and De Paul, play Palacios on the right side of midfield, and put Nico Paz behind Messi and Julian. At least we’d have someone who can actually unlock a packed defence instead of passing sideways and constantly blasting the ball into the stands or wide!
Unbelievable
Scaloni’s biggest problem in this tournament has been his stubbornness. No matter how poorly we perform, he keeps starting De Paul, keeps throwing Almada on when Argentina need creativity, and doesn’t have the courage to drop Enzo or Depaul despite their poor form. Those two along with Molina have consistently underperformed, yet Scaloni refuses do anything! He has invested so much in Almada and Depaul that he wants prove everyone wrong no matter the cost!
Before the Swiss red card, Argentina spent long spells looking like the team parking the bus. We barely created anything, and from the start of the second half until Switzerland scored, we simply kept clearing the ball with nobody up front. All the while Scaloni waiting for Switzerland to push all their 10 players into our box so that he could score on counters! Which team in the first quarter of second half would push for a goal like they are in the dying mins of the game? Yet he was hoping for it!! The red card bailed Scaloni out because otherwise they would have put another ball between Dibu’s legs like they did with the first goal !
And then when Argentina desperately needed inspiration, on came Almada. The 9 Swiss outfield players and their keeper are in the box defending and this guy is constantly passing sideways to Nico.g or wasting his shots. Almada couldn’t hit the barn door to save his life!! And after ALVAREZ SAVED ARGENTINA FROM SCALONI, sorry… I meant Switzerland, finally Switzerland grants Scaloni his wish and pushes every foward and during the move for the third goal, Almada instead of passing it to Messi who was open missed another 1 on 1 before Lautaro finally finished the game, thankfully!
People keep saying Messi has been carrying Argentina this tournament. The reality is that for years Messi has been bailing out Scaloni. With Messi nearing the end of his career, Scaloni’s luck is about end! Scaloni game and man management has run his course like Pep guardiola in Barcelona!
He was passing the ball to Nico then he took a shot which was great but side netting. Passing to Nico few times was a deception so he can take shot next coz it was many players in box and if we lose ball then we get counter . Can’t you see that through? You are wrong without Messi we will play better. Yes Messi has his brilliance but in modern football you need all the players running and pressing together which Messi can’t now. We played better without Messi in every game. Our biggest flex was in Qatar how we pressed but this World Cup we can’t and why do you think it is !!! We had to adapt differently than last coz of Messi and heat and other circumstances. I feel like some times you guys here too critical without actually seeing through. If Messi saving Scaloni then how come we did not win 2010,2014,2018 World Cup & 2011,2015,2016 Copa America? It was prime Messi. Winning 4 trophies ain’t fluke My friend. There is a good thing about this coaching stuff that’s why they won so many trophies. Yes we played terrible last game coz our tactics didn’t work and I believe if Lautaro was playing along Alvarez it would have worked better. We would have won so many ball near Switzerland box.
I disagree. He wasn’t passing to Nico because it was some master deception. He was passing sideways because he simply doesn’t have the skills to beat his defender and drive deeper into the box. That’s why he kept staying on the outside instead of putting the ball inside the box himself.
Almada isn’t that player. His finishing has been poor all season long at Atletico, not just the world cup , and when the big moments came, thank to scaloni, he wasted them again yesterday. The side netting was another poor shot from him. On the third goal, when Messi was open, Almada showed another instance of his poor decision making along and finishing. Thankfully Lautaro cleaned it up.
For me, Almada simply isn’t at the level required for Argentina. We have way better option in Nico Paz, so I don’t see why Almada should be getting minutes ahead of him. You don’t get endless chances just because the coach has invested in the wrong player.
Just when I tought Argentina could not play worse than England… They lay an egg
I’m ok with Almada not passing to Messi, which lead to Lautaro scoring. Messi is already on 8 goals, and if Argentina are to win the World Cup, we need both Laurato and Julian to have a taste of goals.
I don’t understand Scaloni’s obsession with Almada. If you dropped him from the starting 11 due to poor performances, why bring him in as a substitute?
We’re all agreed that De Paul should be dropped. He offered virtually nothing to the team, but dives and slow the game down. Any other midfielder on the bench would do a better job than De Paul. How can a player be so bad and still starting? If you have Paredes, you don’t need De Paul. Bring more creativity in the midfield. Lo Celso for example.
Lasty, Otamendi needs to start. That’s a tough one, as both Licha and Cuti are untouchable. The defense is very disorganized, chaotic, any through ball goes through, and no leadership this tournament. Licha can’t be dropped because of his on-the-ball ability and he can pass from deep. Molina is bad. Scaloni plays Paredes so Enzo could be moved further up, but Enzo has been awful. Argentina’s biggest problem is Molina, De Paul, and Enzo. I don’t see Scaloni making three changes, but something needs to be done.
I don’t think dropping De Paul in England game will be wise now since England wingers and Messi won’t defend and our RB ain’t good.
But De Paul is not doing exactly anything either! In fact, a liability with his misplacing passes and losing the ball constantly.
Man, I was really trying to stay positive during this World Cup, but last night’s game? Seriously, it was the worst I’ve seen under Scaloni. We were just awful; I couldn’t believe my eyes. De Paul, Paredes, Enzo, and Macca were all just terrible.
We all felt the same way, it was very ugly but they won and that’s the only thing that matters.
This has been a very unusual WC but they’re in the semis with one game away from the final and anything could happen
Parades terrible for you? I agree with the rest 3 though
Yup, and maximum kudos and respect to the team for attaining where we are now. Somehow, regardless of what the reason(s) may be, retaining the title in modern days has just been extremely difficult and for us, in meeting the underdogs all the way, we’ve just had to dig very deep and scrape the bottom of the barrel every single match. Thought after 10mins and a goal up, we’re going to see this out. And then dynamics changed, we were defending, they scored and had momentum and we were trying hard to break down 10 men for large part of 2nd half but remained susceptible to the counter. scary stuff. I know our team has loads of gumption, peserverance and tenacity and I just hope we still have some left coz we definitely need it. He is not going to change the line-up the formation and play. If we accept it, our discussions can focus on how the current line will enable us to be the protangonists and control the match (just like how we did vs Croatia last time round, or vs France for the large majority of the match!)
I hope our team finds a way to contain/respond to England’s wingplay which is a big part of their attack (Gordon, Maduke, Saka) coz that’s where we’re very vulnerable. Parades and co will already be busy with Kane, Bellingham, Rice and we really need our wingbacks to please please please stand up and do their job.
I really thought we Will control the game like Croatia game a bit but I was shocked too coz we can’t keep the ball. They pressed better. We have seen it all in last three games tbh and we better be use all the struggles in last three game and play better against England
Disagree on Parades. He is one of the best player of our team for last two match. However, Enzo fernandez and Rodrigo de Paul totally out of form for whole tournament.
This two need to be dropped asap otherwise it will be difficult against England.
To make a long story short, ARG needs to play better plain and simple.
Messi was tired and heavily covered and can’t blame the guy no matter what you think, nobody expected him to play as well as he did including myself but he’s showing his age and fatigue but other players recognized that and stepped up to the occasion.
Debu played a little better, few saves gave him some confidence but not as nearly enough going into the next game, I would say this though, familiarity with the English way should help a little.
I somehow was a little glad it was England and not the ridiculously oversized Norwegian, they would be holding their breath on every corner, set piece and loose airball all game long.
1986 Semis Vs England, Maradona….could it be??
Once again, inside the Benz, no sun humidity or heat should help them old legs.
I expect grit, fight til the death and maybe a twist or two.
I hope Spain pass the ball to death and somehow pull the upset for the obvious reasons.
As far as drama that follows ARG, conspiracy theories, FIFA favoritism bullshit …..etc Frenchy’s Golden boy got a PK after clearly diving, Nobody said shit, The Ball hit the camera wire and dropped perfectly into the redcoats path to their first goal, that dimwit Sorloth had to shoot the ball instead of passing it to an open Haaland for a 2nd easy goal.
ONE LOUSY GAME AWAY FROM THE FINAL, we know it, they know it, the whole world knows and AND MESSI FROM ALL PEOPLE KNOW IT.