{"id":803427,"date":"2026-07-16T06:59:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/803427\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T06:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:59:18","slug":"epic-squared-scaloni-lauds-argentinas-back-to-back-world-cup-comebacks-world-cup-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/803427\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Epic squared\u2019: Scaloni lauds Argentina\u2019s back-to-back World Cup comebacks | World Cup 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"World<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018There was blood in the water, and we went for it,\u2019 Argentina coach said of the relentless late attacks against England.<\/p>\n

Published On 16 Jul 202616 Jul 2026<\/p>\n

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni saluted his team\u2019s never-say-die mentality after another come-from-behind victory powered them past England and into the FIFA World Cup final.<\/p>\n

Scaloni said on Wednesday that his team had scented victory, as England sat back after taking a 1-0 lead in their semifinal in Atlanta, and went for broke to secure a deserved 2-1 win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that this team plays the best when we are facing adversity,\u201d Scaloni said. \u201cWe had a challenging game, a challenging situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was blood in the water, and we went for it. That\u2019s the feeling that I was getting.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just have to keep going. We hit the crossbar. We hit the post, and it just couldn\u2019t go in. There\u2019s six or seven chances, but I\u2019m very pleased about that, because the team fought to the very end, and I think this is critical.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the second time in the knockout rounds that Argentina have won after trailing late in the game following their remarkable last-16 escape act against Egypt \u2013 a win Scaloni described at the time as \u201cepic\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asked how he would describe Wednesday\u2019s victory, Scaloni offered: \u201cEpic squared?\u201d<\/p>\n

Scaloni said the win, which sends Argentina into a final showdown against European champions Spain in New Jersey on Sunday, was a team effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis group is difficult to explain. It is a show of the collectiveness, the brotherhood that we are in, the fight to the very end that we have,\u201d Scaloni said.<\/p>\n

The Argentina coach, who now has the chance to lead the South Americans to four straight major titles after Copa America victories either side of the 2022 World Cup win, said his team had been unfazed as they sought to drag themselves back into the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the guys. They fear nothing,\u201d he said. \u201cThey don\u2019t feel the weight on their shoulders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re playing like they\u2019re seven or eight years old. They\u2019re not thinking about \u2018oh, what\u2019s going to happen if we miss\u2019, or they\u2019re not thinking about the semifinal or final.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018There was blood in the water, and we went for it,\u2019 Argentina coach said of the relentless late…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,44,588,85,1055,6075,21418,124617],"class_list":["post-803427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}