Most international rivalries tend to be very geographical: Brazil and Argentina, England and Scotland, Spain and Portugal.
But this one is bigger than that. Many think it dates back to the Falklands War and the controversial 1986 meeting that followed, but this is a rivalry dating back two decades before that.
To describe their 1966 World Cup meeting as ill-tempered would be putting it lightly. Back in the days where yellow cards really had to be earned, three Argentinians found the referee's notebook with skipper Antonio Rattin being shown a straight red. Manager Juan Carlos Lorenzo summoned his players off the pitch causing a lengthy delay.
England would win 1-0 as Alf Ramsey stopped his players from swapping shirts with the Argentinian players he described as 'animals'.
There was then of course the Hand of God goal, there was the 1998 meeting with David Beckham sent off, and there was the encapsulating "friendly" in Geneva in 2005.
This one goes back a long, long way.
Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Lionel Messi to have at least one shot on target has been Super Boosted from 20/21 to 8/5
1990, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2012, 2018, 2020, 2024. Nine of England's last 16 tournaments have featured a penalty shoot-out. The Three Lions have won shoot-outs in 1996 (also losing), 2018 and 2024.
Could your nerves handle a penalty shoot-out this evening? England are 15/2 to win via spot-kicks, with Argentina slightly bigger at 8/1.
Odds will display when market is available.
The XIs are in for both teams and it is James and Spence at full-back with Rogers getting the nod.
England XI: Pickford, James, Stones, Guehi, Spence, Anderson, Rice, Rogers, Bellingham, Gordon, Kane
Argentina XI: Martinez, Molina, Romero, Martinez, Tagliafico, Simeone, Paredes, Mac Allister, Fernandez, Alvarez, Messi
Just two years after the humiliating exit to Iceland, nobody expected Gareth Southgate to lead England to a World Cup semi-final. Nevertheless, in part down to a forgiving draw, the Three Lions met with Croatia for a place in the World Cup final.
England were 13/10 favourites that day to beat 29/10 Croatia , with the draw settled as the winner at 2/1 as the tie went to extra time.
England are favoured once again tonight, albeit not quite as strongly.
Not that the broadcaster can have any impact on the outcome, but the more superstitious amongst you might be pleased to read England's record on the BBC .
Each of England's last six tournament eliminations have all been shown on ITV (with two of those also being on the BBC for the two Euros finals), and England's win ratio on the BBC is 63% compared to 36% on ITV.
Some more interesting team news emerging.
talkSPORT's Alex Crook posted an 'expected England XI' on X, and had Konsa and O'Reilly as full-backs. Sami Mokbel of the BBC has contradicted that, however, suggesting James and Spence will start either side of Stones and Konsa.
Confirmed team news will be in little more than half an hour.
Those looking for positive omens tonight can look to England's record with Argentina , with the Three Lions winning six of the 14 games and losing just twice (three times if counting the shoot-out defeat in 1998, which in the interests of keeping spirits up, we're not).
Some big news ahead of tonight's match, with reports that Morgan Rogers is going to start on the right-wing.
Tuchel has liked to introduce Bukayo Saka from the bench, which has worked well throughout their campaign, especially considering the Arsenal man's injury woes. As a result, Noni Madueke has received plenty of game time from the start, but his dismal performance against Norway looks to have cost him his place with Rogers stepping in.
The Athletic's David Ornstein wrote on X: "Morgan Rogers set to start on right for England in #FIFAWorldCup semi-final v #Argentina. Opportunity would see 23yo Aston Villa forward rewarded after impact off bench against Norway & form for #AVFC + #England across Thomas Tuchel reign"
Call it cynical, call it nervousness, call it getting your excuses in early, but lots have been made of the officials ahead of tonight.
Thomas Tuchel shone a spotlight earlier in the tournament saying the officiating standards were not up to scratch.
There was then more attention on them in the quarter-finals with Norway having a goal ruled out by VAR, England controversially having a penalty ruled out by VAR, and the did-it-or-did-it-not issue of the ball apparently touching a camera cable in the run-up to England's equaliser.
It wouldn't be too big of a stretch to say that Argentina might look to employ some of the dark arts this evening, and officials will need to be wise to it.
There will be an all-American trio in charge of proceedings this evening with Ismail Elfath the man in the middle.
It's only another hour or so before we'll get the confirmed teams, but here's our predicted England XI for tonight.
Ezri Konsa's best work for England at this World Cup has been at right-back and he may get the nod again, allowing Reece James to come off the bench as he did against Norway. John Stones was excellent at the weekend and should keep his place.
Noni Madueke may be once again trusted to start, allowing Bukayo Saka -- who's been managing his fitness carefully -- to come off the bench when needed, but if he's fully fit, it'd be a big call to leave Saka on the bench.
Predicted England XI : Jordan Pickford; Ezri Konsa, John Stones, Marc Guehi, Nico O'Reilly; Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson; Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon; Harry Kane.
For more than two decades -- scarcely believable to say now -- England failed to reach the semi-final of a major tournament. Their record between 1998 and 2016 at the World Cup and Euros read:
R16-GS-QF-QF-QF-DNQ-R16-QF-GS-R16
Ten tournaments without reaching so much as a semi-final. The Gareth Southgate era changed all that, reaching the semi-finals -- or better -- in three of his four tournaments in charge.
Tuchel has taken England to the semi-finals in his first tournament and whatever happens tonight, it bodes well for Euro 2028, which England will co-host.
You can read England's record in major semi-finals here .
Ahead of tonight's semi-final, we've put together a combined XI which you can read here , with only two Argentina players getting in.
Man for man it's hard to argue that too many Argentina players are better than their English counterparts, with so much of their philosophy being centred around doing all of Lionel Messi's running for him and hoping their superstar can provide their moment of magic.
To be fair, it's got them this far, with Messi scoring in all of Argentina's games before blanking against Switzerland.
England won the World Cup in 1966 and had to wait until 1990 just to reach another semi-final.
There was the unexpected semi-final against Croatia in 2018 before the Euros finals in 2021 when losing to Italy at Wembley and to Spain in 2024 in Germany.
But somehow, tonight's match feels bigger than them all. It's Argentina, in a World Cup semi-final, with a world class manager at the helm. This really could be the year, but there's one sizeable hurdle still to get past.
Between the two Euros finals and tonight, which game is bigger?
It's been 30 years since Des Lynam closed out England's Euro 96 campaign with the famous: "You better remember where you were watching this tonight, because in 30 years' time somebody will probably ask you."
The same applies tonight, for what is arguably England's biggest game in 60 years.
Get your selections settled early if the team you back goes two goals ahead, regardless if the other team comes back to draw or win.
The World Cup top goalscorer market suddenly looks a bit more interesting after last night's result. Kylian Mbappe may well find himself rested for the third-place play-off.
The Frenchman is currently tied on eight with Argentina, with the pair two ahead of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.
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Ahead of tonight's semi-final, the Racing Post's Jamie Griffith has cast his eye over proceedings, and is backing the Three Lions to progress.
Read the full article with all predictions and tips from the Racing Post here .
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Welcome to our live coverage of England v Argentina at the 2026 World Cup.
England needed extra time to get past Norway, while Argentina have twice been taken beyond the 90 minutes.
The match gets underway at 8pm UK time and we will bring you our expert England v Argentina Predictions & Tips live World Cup news
