​Argentina once again pulled off a thrilling World Cup comeback and booked a place in the World Cup final against Spain with a 2-1 victory against England in the semifinal.Buy World Cup final tickets!Albiceleste manager Lionel Scaloni made a change to the starting XI he had utilized in the previous two matches, taking veteran midfielder Rodrigo De Paul out of the lineup and inserting Giuliano Simeone, son of Diego Simeone who played a role in Argentina’s 1998 World Cup win over England.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut it was once again Lionel Messi stealing the show, setting up both late goals and spurring Argentina into the final, where the team will look to defend the World Cup crown it earned in 2022.Let’s take a look at how the Argentina players performed in the semifinal victory:1 / 85Argentina’s forward #10 Lionel Messi celebrates after his team won the 2026 World Cup football tournament semi-final match against England at the Atlanta Stadium in Atlanta on July 15, 2026.(JEWEL SAMAD, AFP via Getty Images)Ended the day having made one save and conceding once. He perhaps could’ve done a bit better on the goal, but it was a difficult situation. There is no one else Argentina fans would rather see between the sticks.Argentina is asking a lot from Molina with Messi rarely tracking back. This time, he got a bit more help on the right side but still looked asleep on the goal and got beat off the dribble.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWas everywhere at the back and put just two passes wrong. The post-match stats give Romero 17 defensive contributions, with 10 clearances helping quiet Harry Kane.Had to take a professional yellow card to stop a counter-attack when Messi lost possession late in the first half, which led to him being the center back sacrificed when Nicolas Otamendi came on.Still gives Argentina plenty going forward, but a clipped pass ended up as the move that led to England’s goal, and he made way in the 81st minute.You could say the young Simeone understood the assignment, disrupting England with five fouls committed and trying to ease some of the pressure on the right side. Would’ve been good to see him be more crisp in attack, where he has offered more in the past but struggled to link passes Wednesday.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA bounce-back game for Fernandez after having a tough night in the quarterfinal. He worked well with midfield partner Leandro Paredes, was on the ball controlling the tempo often, and ended the day with the most touches and most shots in the match − still managing to complete 82 of 84 passes attempted.Plus, what more can you say about this goal?In contrast to Fernandez’s best game of the World Cup, this might be the worst so far from Pardedes − at least since he’s been fully fit. But that he still earns a good mark shows how good he’s been in other matches. Wednesday, England kept him from being the player who found Messi to break away, but he still was clean in the middle u