England had this one. Anthony Gordon had them up in the second half, the clock was bleeding out, and then it wasn't England's night anymore. Argentina scored twice in the final stretch to win 2-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, with Enzo Fernandez heading in an 85th-minute equalizer before Lautaro Martinez finished a Messi cross in the second minute of stoppage time to send Argentina back to the World Cup final. It's the exact same pattern Barstool's Dave Portnoy has been trying to diagnose for weeks: Argentina looks lost for 70 minutes, then flips a switch nobody else has access to.
The perfect ball in that only Messi was going to deliver. The guy is unreal. GOAT of goats https://t.co/z4wW8xx3x8
That's twice now Argentina has needed a miracle finish to survive a knockout game in this tournament, and twice now Messi has been the guy delivering it. He's 39 years old, playing out his career in MLS, and still the most dangerous man on the pitch in the biggest moments — which is exactly what had Big Cat calling England's collapse simply "The Best" and Portnoy comparing England's approach to a prevent defense that only prevents winning. For England, it's the second straight tournament ending in soul-crushing fashion, and the pile-on started before the final whistle even settled.
Most of the blame is landing on Thomas Tuchel. The German boss walked into this semifinal already dealing with a public spat with Jude Bellingham after criticizing the team's sluggish quarterfinal win, and after this loss the Barstool crowd wasn't interested in nuance. Chief called it flatly: "Tuchel stinks. Wrong team. Horrible strategy. Stunningly bad subs. Deserved to lose. England deserves better." Portnoy piled on too, tying the loss back to England's tentative win over Mexico earlier in the tournament and writing them off as playing "coward soccer" that finally caught up with them.
Who should be blamed for England’s massive choke job? https://t.co/mJAABBZeKN
The frustration didn't stay confined to tactics talk. Postgame, cameras caught Jude Bellingham getting physical with Argentina players on the pitch, players and staff moving in to separate bodies in the dim stadium lights. It's the kind of scene that tends to follow England out of tournaments — raw emotion boiling over the second the result is final, with a guy who scored twice just days earlier now shoving his way through a handshake line gone wrong.
Jude Bellingham got into it with Argentina players after their match https://t.co/6pfyarztbY
Meanwhile, an ocean away, Buenos Aires turned into an all-night party. Drone footage over the Obelisco showed a sea of blue and white packed into the streets, fireworks going off over a crowd that clearly wasn't going home anytime soon — Argentina back in a World Cup final on the strength of Messi's late magic is the kind of thing an entire country shuts down for.
Zero chance anyone in Argentina is sleeping tonight https://t.co/fqhLZ0QxGk
Not every celebration stayed friendly. Barstool's feed also caught English police stepping in to pull an Argentina fan out of a mob of England supporters on a European street, a reminder that these rivalry games come with real stakes for people who aren't anywhere near the pitch. Between the brawls, the Tuchel pile-on and the Bellingham scuffle, this result is going to follow England around for a while — while Argentina turns its attention to Spain in the final, chasing back-to-back titles with the best player of his generation somehow still delivering when it matters most.