England will have one goal in mind when they face Argentina in a thrilling World Cup semi-final on Thursday: to end Lionel Messi's dream of reaching the final for the second time in a row. 

England, who have reached the last four thanks to a brilliant performance by Jude Bellingham, will face Messi under the roof of the Atlanta Stadium. It is the same ground where defending champions Argentina have already achieved a memorable victory in this World Cup. 

The two teams are set to meet for the first time since the 2002 World Cup. Their matches themselves have been filled with many memorable performances. The most notable of these is the 1986 World Cup, in which Diego Maradona scored a goal with his hand in the quarter-finals. In 1998, David Beckham was shown a red card for a tackle on Diego Simeone. And in the background of all this is the Falklands War, fought between the two countries. 

After Argentina's 3-1 quarter-final win over Switzerland, coach Lionel Messi tried to defuse the tension by saying, "I want to tell everyone, this is just another game of football." There are many dimensions to this game that can be viewed from a purely football perspective. For example, England themselves are trying to reach the World Cup final for the first time since 1966. England had won the World Cup only once at that time. 

Argentina, on the other hand, is looking to reach the final for the second time in a row, equaling a similar record set by Brazil in 1962. Messi said on the eve of the match against England, "This team does not get tired of making history. This team wants to achieve more success. Winning the World Cup is not easy, even the victories we have won were not easy. On top of that, reaching the semi-finals in a high-level competition is also great.'

Coincidentally, this semi-final will also be Messi's first match against England in his playing career. The performance of both teams on the way to the semi-finals has not been uniform and easy. Argentina easily cleared the group stage, but the knockout stages since then have proven to be difficult. Scolani's team, who was once a full-back at West Ham, defeated Cape Verde in extra time.

They defeated Egypt while trailing by two goals. This match took place in Atlanta. Argentina then ended the challenge of Switzerland, limited to 10 players, in extra time. In that match, Messi's streak of scoring goals in 9 consecutive World Cup matches was also broken.

But in the meantime, Argentina has maintained its unbeaten journey in 12 World Cup matches. Argentina last lost in the match against Saudi Arabia in 2022. On the other hand, England got off to a promising start by beating Croatia. 

But they could not maintain that momentum. England also struggled in the knockout stages. Captain Harry Kane had to score two goals to beat DR Congo towards the end of the game. England themselves, being limited to 10 men, also had difficulty beating co-hosts Mexico. Bellingham scored two of them. With the help of these two goals, England stopped Norway in the last eight. 

One good fact in England's favor is that this is the fourth semi-final opportunity in the last five major tournaments they have played. England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford says, "We all know how great Messi is. Argentina is a good team in itself. So our aim will be to stop Messi, we also have to pay attention to their other players. Our focus should be on Argentina's other strengths and weaknesses.'

There is one concern about the Argentine team. This is the abundance of older players. The average age of the starting 11 players in the match against Switzerland was over 30. In fact, England's average age against Norway was 26.6. Declan Rice may be a doubt for England because he is ill. For all the players in England, Messi's first match will be memorable in itself.