A Late Twist That Changed Everything
England took the lead through Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute and looked on course to reach the final. But Argentina refused to fold. Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez struck late goals, both created by Messi, to complete the turnaround.

What made it even more remarkable was that Argentina became the first team ever to score multiple second-half stoppage-time winners in a single World Cup.

Lautaro's goal carried extra weight too. He became the first Argentine player to score more than one World Cup goal off the bench in the same tournament.

His effort marked the fourth stoppage-time winning goal scored by a substitute in this year's knockout stage alone, more than every previous World Cup combined, a stat that only applies since substitutions were introduced back in 1970.

Interestingly, this was Argentina's first win over England since the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals, snapping a five-match winless run against them across all competitions. England, meanwhile, continued a rough historical trend, having now been knocked out in three of their four World Cup semifinal appearances, with 1966 being the only exception, a tournament they hosted and won.

Their five shots on the night were also the fewest recorded by any team in a World Cup match over the last six decades, and their possession dropped to just 12 percent in the closing stretch of the game, one of the .