{"id":687424,"date":"2026-07-12T09:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/687424\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T09:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:34:11","slug":"world-cup-2026-england-to-face-argentina-in-semi-finals-will-three-lions-reach-the-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/687424\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2026: England to face Argentina in semi-finals &#8211; will Three Lions reach the final?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Argentina beat 10-man Switzerland in extra time to set up England tiepublished at 08:42 BST<\/p>\n<p>08:42 BST<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-fxb76l-Paragraph e14e9ror4\">Argentina 3-1 Switzerland (AET)<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-qs9kpv-Contributor etflsgg2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/147d24ef-539d-499f-8246-9a37b3ef46d3.jpg.webp.webp\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" class=\"ssrcss-egie1y-Image edrdn950\"\/>Emma Smith<br \/>BBC Sport journalist<\/p>\n<p>      <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Julian Alvarez #9 of Argentina celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's second goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarter Final match between Argentina and Switzerland at Kansas City Stadium on July 11, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e42ba36c-9872-41f0-8b65-2e9dc73e00c6.jpg.webp\"  width=\"1022\" height=\"574\" class=\"ssrcss-egie1y-Image edrdn950\"\/>Image source, Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Argentina will face England in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup after a dramatic victory over Switzerland in sweltering Kansas City.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Julian Alvarez settled a controversial match in extra time with a moment of brilliance, curling an unstoppable 25-yard effort past Swiss keeper Gregor Kobel to set up the meeting with Thomas Tuchel&#8217;s side \u2013 a match that will be shown live on the BBC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It was heartbreak for Switzerland, who had defended valiantly after being reduced to 10 men during the second half in dramatic circumstances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Star striker Breel Embolo was dramatically given a second yellow card for diving following a video assistant referee review.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Embolo initially appeared to be fouled near the half-way line by Leandro Paredes, who was booked. However the referee was called by VAR to check under the mistaken identity rule, with the replay showing the Swiss player had clearly simulated contact.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The Paredes booking was quashed and Embolo, who had already been booked, was sent off to his distress and Swiss outrage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Just five minutes before Embolo was dismissed, Switzerland had deservedly equalised having been the better team for much of this game against the reigning world champions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Argentina may have anticipated a cruise to the last four when Alexis Mac Allister flicked home Lionel Messi&#8217;s corner at the near post with just 10 minutes gone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But they failed to press their advantage and Switzerland built into the game before Nottingham Forest winger Dan Ndoye struck after 67 minutes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Ndoye cut in from the left, played a one-two with Ricardo Rodriguez and tucked his finish through the legs of Emiliano Martinez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But Argentina assumed dominance after the Embolo red, and after long periods of struggle were blessed by Alvarez&#8217;s moment of genius.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Switzerland pushed for a second leveller, but they were caught on the counter and Lautaro Martinez slotted home as Argentina kept their bid for back to back World Cups alive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Argentina beat 10-man Switzerland in extra time to set up England tiepublished at 08:42 BST 08:42 BST Argentina&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-687424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}