The sweat was barely dry on the shirts when the magnitude of Wednesday's fixture hit home. England survived a nervy 2-1 quarter-final against Norway in Miami on Saturday night — Jude Bellingham grabbing an extra-time winner after Andreas Schjelderup had put the Scandinavians ahead — and now Thomas Tuchel's side must face Lionel Messi and Argentina in Atlanta for a place in the World Cup final. The stakes, as anyone who knows the history of these two nations will tell you, could hardly be higher. Bellingham was once again the man who mattered, but the evening was far from clean.

His equaliser before half-time came wrapped in controversy: replays appeared to show a Norway goal-kick striking an overhead television cable above the pitch before England worked the ball upfield. FIFA issued a statement insisting a sensor inside the ball recorded no contact, yet Norway's head coach Ståle Solbakken refused to accept that verdict, arguing the incident created "a misunderstanding among our players." The debate is still raging. Tuchel, for his part, was unusually blunt after the final whistle, admitting that his team had been "lucky.

" In the Miami crowd, watching all of this unfold, sat David Beckham — president of Inter Miami, former England captain, and the last man to beat Argentina in a competitive World Cup match. His winning penalty in Sapporo in 2002 is the only time these two nations have met in tournament football since then. More than two decades on, England get another chance to write a new chapter. At 39, Messi is almost certainly playing in his final World Cup, and he has never faced England in a competitive fixture.

Neither has anyone else on either current squad.