How England Can Stop The Genius Lionel Messi Led Argentina At The 2026 FIFA World Cup Semi Final
England are aiming to knock the greatest player of modern times out of the World Cup 2026 when the Three Lions meet Lionel Messi for the first time ever in the semi-finals in Atlanta on Wednesday.
In their first fixture against England since 2005, the holders will resume their mission to retain the trophy for their inspirational captain in his last trip to the finals at the age of 39.
Messi has scored in every Argentina match at the finals apart from their quarter-final against Switzerland, when he took 10 minutes to set up the opening goal.
From Harry Kane to former England managers and World Cup legends, here’s what experts have said about keeping Messi quiet.
England ‘could frustrate Messi’ – Allardyce
Sam Allardyce briefly managed England n 2016 and believes a midfielder who has impressed at the finals could be crucial.
“There’s one man who’d keep Messi quiet,” Allardyce told No Tippy Tappy Football.
“Because he doesn’t challenge you physically too much, [head coach Thomas Tuchel] can sacrifice one person.
“It’s one person who’s had an outstanding World Cup and could be disciplined enough to do the man-for-man marking, which is, for me, just what’s needed.
“He’s Elliot Anderson. Just give him the job and say ‘look, this is your job today.’ The rest of the [Argentina] team are excellent and there are other areas we’ve got to be careful about, but you’re stopping the main threat.
“If you’re concentrating enough, it won’t matter where he’s taking you. Just go with him and the rest of the team will cope with the rest of what Argentina have to offer.
“So you stop him – the main threat – and the rest of the team do the job. That could frustrate Messi hugely and not let him in the game.
“Sometimes it’s like with [Erling] Haaland: [strikers] aren’t bothered too much about it. They just wait. They’ll like to sit there and wait to pounce.
“That’s why you need the concentration, because sometimes, if you are walking around like Messi does particularly, he just waits – and then he’s off if you lose concentration.
“Stop Messi as well as stopping the service, and you’ve got an opportunity – as proven by other teams.”
Harry Kane: ‘Everyone knows Messi danger’
Kane says the fact that Messi is encountering England for the first time in his storied career makes the match a “unique occasion”.
“It’s crazy really, when you think about it, how long he’s been at the top of his game and never played England,” Kane told ITV, also analysing figures showing the unusual amount of time Messi spends walking during games.
“We know how good a player he is and what he’s done in the game, how consistent he’s been for so long.
“He’s been doing it for – how long has it been, 20 years? He’s been one of – if not the best – player in the world for almost 20 years straight, so everyone knows how dangerous he can be.
“People play football in so many different ways and people like to put a blanket on everyone [where] it has to be this way or that way: ‘you have to run this much’.
“People find a way of doing it in their own special circumstances. Are there many people who can do it like him? Absolutely not, because you can’t get away with it.
“But he’s so effective when he has the ball. Especially in this team, when the team believe in him and everything is built around him.
“They have that belief among each other. So that’s another test we’re going to have to come through and deal with.
“We have a lot of preparation to do. We’re coming up against a great unit, a great team, with fantastic players.
“As much as it will be built up around Messi and the big players, we know it’s a lot more than that.”
Lionel Messi and Argentina ‘can beat anyone’ – Vieri
Italy’s all-time top scorer at the World Cup, Christian Vieri, feels Messi was unfortunate not to score against Switzerland but amply demonstrated his unpredictability during the extra-time win.
“There’s never a good time to face Lionel,” Vieri told FIFA. “Even if he’s 39, you can see what he does game after game.
“He’s been doing this for like 25 years, so physically he’s fit. When you’re fit and you have that much talent, you can beat anyone in any game.
“He’s so good. You always want to play against the best, because you want to beat the best. If I’m an English player, I want to play against Messi; I want to play against all the biggest players and see what happens.
“Of the four teams in the semi-finals, England have shown something more than the other teams.”
Lionel Messi: England ‘will have a plan’ – Carragher
Jamie Carragher played for England at the World Cup in 2006 and 2010, although the defender missed their 3-2 win over Argentina in a friendly 21 years ago in Geneva.
“[The problem is] not new with Messi,” said Carragher, speaking on Sky Sports. “He’s been around for 20 years and no-one’s found the answer, really, to stop him.
“You’re up against genius. I don’t think it’d be a man-marking job from the England squad but they will have to have a plan. The players will be expecting that.
“It’s not admitting defeat in any way if you have to change something slightly. Even the England players will be expecting something from [assistant] Anthony Barry and Thomas Tuchel, because you’re coming up against arguably the greatest player of all time.
“He’s shown that in this tournament, so England have to think about how they’re going to deal with him.
“But they should be thinking about how they can exploit Lionel Messi as well. He walks about when the opposition have the ball.
“That doesn’t mean England’s left-backs should just stand next to him for the whole game. You can exploit that.
“Argentina only defend with nine outfield players, whereas most teams – the majority in world football now – defend with 10. So that’s something England have to look to exploit.”
England vs Argentina: Pardew on ‘keeping Messi out’
Former Premier League manager of the season Alan Pardew says Argentina made a tactical tweak when Messi was “quite quiet” against Switzerland.
“They pushed him out on that right flank, where he’s probably played most of his football,” Pardew told TalkSport.
“He was terrific for a little spell. He’s just one of those players who you’ve got to get bodies around.
“He can skip past two or three of you but you need those bodies there just in case you can stop him.
“Stopping him at source is the key. Us keeping possession – which we’ve not done really well, if I’m honest – is going to be very, very important.
“We can’t keep turning the ball over, so [it requires] keeping possession, keeping locked in. When I say ‘locked in’, I mean when we have an attack – when it comes out – we win that second ball, or we pick up the pieces, we read the situation.
“We haven’t done that well, so we’re having our attacks and then the opposition obtain possession and clear it or play their way out, and Argentina are good at that.
“Those are the two areas that will be really important. One, keep Messi off the game by keeping the ball. Secondly, have bodies in and around him.”
England communication ‘so important’ – Silvestre
In 2010, Messi scored all of Barcelona’s goals in a 4-1 home win over an Arsenal side featuring France defender Mikael Silvestre.
“He just disappeared at some points,” recalled Silvestre, a World Cup 2006 finalist, speaking to The Good, The Bad & The Football.
“Not because he’s walking, but because he’s going into an area where you forget about him. You need to speak to one another more than usual because he’s going to be in between the lines.
“Most of the time, he’s going to be positioned right between the defenders and the midfield. So you need to be constantly aware and communicate: ‘hey, he’s behind you’ or ‘he’s on your right shoulder, left shoulder.’
“This is so important for the back four, specifically, to communicate with the midfield – whether that’s with [Jordan] Henderson, [Declan] Rice or whoever is playing there.
“Maybe Reece James will play there next time. It is just so vital to have that relationship and communication to know where he is at all times.
“Especially when he’s walking, because you know his next move will be decisive. He’s fresh. That burst of speed over the first five or six yards – he’s still got it.”
England have quality to beat Argentina – Sutton
Premier League winner Chris Sutton almost crossed paths with Messi on the pitch, starting for Celtic in a 1-1 draw at Barcelona in the Champions League in 2004, with Messi an unused substitute.
“Messi will still be dangerous but he is 39 now and, as long as Tuchel has a plan to stop him drifting into space, England will have enough quality everywhere else to win,” Sutton predicted in his BBC Sport column.
“The way Argentina set up, they overload the middle of the pitch and play really narrow, then try to get Messi on the ball and hope he can produce something.
“I know it is easy to say ‘you stop Messi, you stop Argentina’. But watching them, that was literally the case.
“Apart from Messi, they are hoping Julian Alvarez bends one in from 25 yards, rather than playing through teams.
“Alvarez is usually in midfield but he played slightly differently against Switzerland and was the one trying to stretch their backline. If he wasn’t doing it, no-one else was.
“Messi certainly isn’t going to be making those runs and he was really quiet for long periods against the Swiss. Once [Switzerland] were down to 10 men, he was probing and looking more of a threat.
“If Declan Rice is fit, it will be his job to deal with him. The Swiss realised you could not give Messi an inch and Granit Xhaka was brilliant at that.”