Our feature columnist, John Newsome, previews the semi-final of the Football World Championship 2026 with his unique and insightful commentary.
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World Cup Semi-Finals
July 14th
FRANCE (3) v SPAIN (2)
20.00 in England
AT & A Stadium, Arlington USA
So the 3rd-ranked team by FIFA are in the last-4 of the World Cup, the Gallagher Brothers and their Oasis mates, might even suggest, ‘Some Might Say’ the Semi-Final.
The Americans would say Sem-eye-Final.
There was a bet boost offered by one of the betting companies which said ‘France To Score In The First-Half’ ‘Evens 1/1’ against Morocco.
The immediate reaction was ‘lump on’.
When Kylian Mbappe was hacked down in the 25th minute, the on-field referee Facundo Tello ‘told all’ and pointed straight to the spot.
Penalty.
Everyone and their Aunties Mother knew it was a penalty, however, the dreaded VAR took 3 and a half minutes to confirm the decision.
It was obviously like in the 1970s when folk needed a 10 bob (or 50p coin) to put in the Telly to re-start the Gogglebox.
The VAR must have been scratching around for a 10 Cent to put in the American Television, to confirm the penalty.
Is that where the game is heading?
The worrying thing is, the Premier League officials are like Sheep and will be picking stuff up, so don’t be surprised if the game in England adopts some of these processes (one is not saying Rules as they are not Rules, they are Processes!).
After the delay, Kylian kicked the ball softer than Kurt Zouma kicked his cat and the Moroccan Goalkeeper Bono, said ‘With or Without You Kylian, I am saving this one!’
Ultimately, the half-time score was 0-0 and those who had ‘lumped on’ at Evens, lost their money.
Annoying!
Kylian Mbappe did eventually score on the hour mark, to give the French a lead, with Ousmane Dembele adding a 2nd a few minutes later to give France the win from a 2-0 scoreline.
In truth, despite Morocco being brilliant in the previous games, the French were just too good and won easily to progress to the Semi-Final against Spain.
The ITV commentator even offered up the opinion-
‘Is this France’s hardest game up to now?’
The co-commentator Ally McCoist, immediately replied-
‘No!’
Hartlepool would have beaten Morocco, on Thursday in Boston.
This World Cup is thinning out the teams, with the Top 4 FIFA-ranked all being in the Semi-Final.
This is the first time in history that the Top 4 Countries have reached the Semi-Finals at one tournament.
Apart from the disgusting way that FIFA run their organisation, the corruption, the money laundering, the fact that Gianni Infantino is no better than Sepp Blatter, the fact that Donald Bump on the Head influenced Gianni Child (Infant-ino) to let Florarin Balogun play against Belgium (it wasn’t Florarin’s fault and the lad did his part to make up for the indiscretion by playing rubbish against the Belgians), somehow makes up for the rankings, which are pretty much on point.
France should be too strong for Spain and have the opportunity to play in their 3rd successive World Cup Final, (2018, 2022 and 2026) equalling Germany (1982, 1986 and 1990) and Brazil (1994, 1998 and 2002).
When one looks at the history of the World Cup, which has had 22 previous Finals and stretches back to 1930, it’s amazing to think that only 8 Countries have won it, (Uruguay 2, Italy 4, Germany 4, Brazil 5, England 1, Argentina 3, France 2, and Spain 1) with only Germany and Brazil making 3 successive finals.
France could potentially face England in this year’s final, with many of the French saying-
‘Sacre Bleu!’
When the Three Lions win.
Although the scoreline of 2-1 in favour of Spain, seems to suggest that the game against Belgium was a tight affair, the victory was quite comfortable for the Spanish who were just too good for the Belgians.
It was a real shame to see the great Kevin De Bruyne, being outclassed by his old mate Rodri, who simply controlled the midfield, like a conductor in front of Symphony Orchestra.
Goals from Fabian Ruiz in the 1st-half and Mikel Merino late on gave Spain the eventual win.
Charles De Ketelaere scored for Belgium just before half-time to make the score level.
As mentioned, although Spain left it late to get the winner, it would just have been a waste of 30 minutes if the game went into Extra-Time as the Spanish were in complete control.
There was a stat that every time Fabian Ruiz plays for Spain (48 times), the Spanish haven’t lost.
Another interesting statistic that popped up also was-
2010, when Spain were eventual Champions.
Debut without a win- (lost 1-0 against Switzerland)
Comfortable second victory- (Honduras 2-0)
Beat Marcelo Bielsa’s team- (Chile 2-1)
1-0 win over Portugal in the last-16-
Hard-fought Quarter-Final-(Paraguay 1-0)
Semi-final against the tournament’s
biggest challenge- (Germany 1-0)
2026-
Debut without a win- (draw 0-0 against Cape Verde)
Comfortable second victory- (Saudi Arabia 4-0)
Beat Marcelo Bielsa’s team- (Uruguay 1-0)
1-0 win over Portugal in the last-16
Hard-fought (ish) Quarter-Final-(Belgium 2-1)
Semi-final against the tournament’s
biggest challenge- (France)
Will history repeat itself or will France prevail?
It would be hard to predict a winner, with the game possibly going all the way to a penalty shootout, however, because this EveryTip column is a prediction site, John Newsome will stick his neck out and predict a France victory.
Ooh la-la!
Betfred offer France at 13/10, the Draw at 9/4 and 21/10 for Spain to progress to the Final.
France To Win 2-1- Get 17/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
July 15th
ENGLAND (4) v ARGENTINA (1)
20.00 in England
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta USA
England go marching on to the Semi-Final following a hard-fought win over Norway in Miami on Saturday Night.
In truth, the tie was pretty even, with Jude Bellingham being the difference.
Or should one say-
‘Sir Jude!’
It was mentioned previously that Jude is playing like Paul Gascoigne in Italia’90.
‘Hey Jude, he makes it better, turns a goal down into 2-1
La la lar la la la la lar hey Jude!’
Jude scored the equaliser in the 45th plus added 2 minutes after Andreas Schjelderup had scored a very lucky goal in the 36th.
After 90-odd minutes, the game finished in a draw by a 1-1 score, resulting in an extra 30.
Jude then scored a 2nd for himself and England early into the extra 30 minutes and after holding on for the rest of the game, England got the victory over Norway from a 2-1 scoreline.
There were a couple of controversial moments which after reflection, were corrected by the dreaded VAR, with Norway rightly having a goal ruled out and England, in the end, rightly having a penalty overturned.
The Norwegian Coaching staff were a bit concerned after the game and couldn’t find Erling Haaland, one of the ball-boys shouted over-
‘Eh up Mr Viking, Erling’s in John Stones’ pocket!’
It’s now a Semi-Final, England’s 4th only in World Cup history, against the Argentinians.
Is it coming home?
John Newsome thinks it is!
The following was put in this EveryTip World Championship Round Two Preview-
‘Another memory springs to mind from the World Cup which is an infamous Qualifier between England and Norway in Oslo back in September 1981.
Norway-
Tore Antonsen, Bjarne Berntsen, Einar Aas, Åge Hareide, Svein Grøndalen, Anders Giske, Roger Albertsen, Hallvar Thoresen, Arne Larsen-Oklund, Pål Jacobsen, Tom Lund.
Substitutes-
Arne Dokken for Tom Lund 76 Minutes.
Trond Pedersen for Arne Larsen-Oklund 87 Minutes.
England-
Ray Clemence, Phil Neal, Mick Mills, Russell Osman, PhilThompson, Bryan Robson, Kevin Keegan, Terry McDermott, Glenn Hoddle, Trevor Francis, Paul Mariner.
Substitutes-
Peter Barnes for Glenn Hoddle 61 Minutes.
Peter Withe for Paul Mariner 75 Minutes.
England went to the Norwegian Capital, expecting an easy victory over a team that was on a par with the Norwegian European Song Contest entrants.
Bryan Robson scored after 15 minutes which should have allowed England to push on for the victory.
That wasn’t the case, with Roger Albertsen and Hallvar Thoresen replying for Norway who held on for the win by a 2-1 score.
That then prompted an emotional response from the Norwegian Commentator Bjorge Lillelien, who came out with the following,
‘Lord Nelson, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Henry Cooper, Lady Diana, vi har slått dem alle sammen, vi har slått dem alle sammen! (We have beaten them all, we have beaten them all!)
Maggie Thatcher, can you hear me?
I have a message for you.
As they say in the Boxing World at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Maggie Thatcher, your boys took a hell of a beating!
Your boys took a hell of a beating!’
Well, a message for that Norwegian Commentator Bjorge Lillelien, from an emotional John Newsome-
‘Edvard Munch, Henrik Ibsen, Peer Gynt, Edvard Grieg, Jo Nesbø, Morten Harket, (The lead singer of the pop band A-ha), Alfe Inge Haaland, Magnus Carlsen, Karsten Warholm Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen, Thor Heyerdahl, Erling Haaland, your drum and stick and your daft Row chant-
Vi har slått dem alle sammen, vi har slått dem alle sammen! (We have beaten them all, we have beaten them all!)
Jonas Gahr Støre can you hear me?
I have a message for you.
As they say in the Boxing World at York Hall in Bethnal Green.
Jonas Gahr Støre, your boys took a hell of a beating!
Your boys took a hell of a beating!’
Argentina make up the final 4 by getting a victory over Switzerland in Kansas City on Sunday.
Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister scored a brilliant header in the 10th minute to give Argentina an early lead.
It was then assumed (wrongly) that the Argentinians would push on for more but the Swiss held firm and managed an equaliser in the 67th minute.
Nottingham Forest’s Dan Ndoye with the goal.
Switzerland were then reduced to 10-men when Breel Embolo took a dive and after the referee Joao Pinheiro had originally given a foul to Breel, the dreaded VAR got involved and advised Joao to have a look at the monitor.
After a look at the TV, it was clear Breel had dived and was shown a 2nd Yellow Card for simulation and ultimately the Red.
Switzerland held out for 90-minutes to take the tie into Extra-Time, however, Argentina slowly took advantage of having a man extra and eventually scored a couple to get the win from a 3-1 score.
The ex-Man City Striker Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez with the late goals.
This game will be a tough ask for both as with the France v Spain affair and could literally go all the way to a penalty shootout, which is what should be expected from the Top Four FIFA Ranked Teams.
There is history between Argentina and England at World Cups, stretching back to the first encounter in Chile’1962, where England prevailed from a 3-1 scoreline.
Goals from Ron Flowers, Sir Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves put England into an unassailable 3-0 lead, with a late consolation from Argentina.
It was then an infamous Quarter-Final game at Wembley in 1966, where the Butcher of Montevideo Antonio Rattin was sent off after 33 minutes for chopping down Sir Bobby and then continuing to argue with the referee.
It took Señor Rattin 8 minutes to leave the pitch.
Sir Geoff Hirst got the solitary winning goal which was then fiercely contested by the Argentinians, saying Geoff was offside.
Whilst writing this, the news came through that Antonio Rattin had sadly died on July the 11th, the same day that this year’s Semi-Final clash was confirmed.
Rest In Peace Antonio!
Twenty years later, it was then another infamous Quarter-Final between the two Nations, at Mexico’1986 in the Azteca Stadium.
This came after the Falklands Conflict between England and Argentina.
The controversy continued on the pitch with Diego Maradona’s Hand of God goal which saw little Diego punch the ball past Peter Shilton to give Argentina the lead.
The little Maestro then produced one of the greatest moments in World Cup history by skipping past the English players (who to be fair were exhausted from the heat of Mexico City and parted like the Red Sea) allowing Diego to score a brilliant individual goal.
Gary Lineker did pull a goal back, heading home a cross from John Barnes.
If one remembers, Gary had a virtually identical situation to grab an equaliser but fell short, leaving Argentina with a victory from a 2-1 scoreline.
1998 saw the incident with another Diego, him being Diego Simeone, who fouled David Beckham, prompting David to kick out at Diego and receive a Red Card for the petulance.
The only thing one can add to that is, Sir David Beckham should have kicked Mr Simeone harder!
Argentina prevailed following a penalty shootout.
The score in World Cup head-to-heads at that point was England 2-Argentina 2.
Mr Beckham made up for his 1998 indiscretion by converting a penalty against the Argentinians at Japan/South Korea’2002, to give England the victory from a 1-0 scoreline.
It leaves the head-to-head between these two fierce opponents at 3-2 in favour of England.
As an England fan, it’s hoped our boys can make it 4-2.
‘It’s coming home!’
The current Golden Boot contenders-
The position of each player includes Assists also-
Kylian Mbappe 8 (3)
Lionel Messi 8 (2)
Erling Haaland 7 (0)
Jude Bellingham 6 (1)
Harry Kane 6 (1)
Ousmane Dembele 5 (2)
Mikel Oyarzabal 4 (1)
Julian Quinones, Ismaila Sarr and Vinicius Junior all have 4 goals too but won’t be able to add to those as all (Mexico, Senegal and Brazil) are on their way home.
Added to that Erling Haaland’s game is run, so the Big Viking won’t be adding to his tally of 7.
Betfred offer England at 8/5, the Draw at 21/10 and 15/8 for Argentina to progress to the Final.
England To Win 3-2- Get 33/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
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