- England and Argentina will play each other for the sixth time at a World Cup in their semi-final clash on Wednesday in Atlanta.
- The first ever meeting between the two teams came in the 1962 World Cup, when England secured a 3-1 victory before being knocked out in the quarter-finals by eventual champions Brazil.
- The two teams met again in the 1966 World Cup quarter-finals, with England winning 1-0 before manager Sir Alf Ramsey described the Argentine side as “animals” as he hit out at their uncompromising tactics.
- Argentina won the next two World Cup meetings, famously beating England 2-1 in 1986 thanks to Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal followed by his incredible solo effort, before winning on penalties against England in the last-16 of the 1998 tournament after David Beckham was sent off for kicking out at Diego Simeone.
- Beckham got his redemption in 2002 by scoring a penalty in a 1-0 England win as Argentina went out in the group stage, and this means that England have a 3-2 lead over Argentina in World Cup matches ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final.
