England will face Argentina after a 2-1 victory over Norway that secured a fourth World Cup semifinal appearance, according to the Press Association. The match in Qatar will mark the seventh time England have reached the last four of a major tournament, excluding the four-team 1968 European Championship.
England’s first major semifinal success came at Wembley in the 1966 World Cup, a 2-1 win over Portugal. Bobby Charlton scored in each half to counter Eusebio’s influence, and the Portuguese forward’s late penalty was only a consolation.
The side suffered penalty shootout heartache at the 1990 World Cup, drawing 1-1 with West Germany in Turin before losing 4-3 on spot kicks. Gary Lineker had cancelled out Andreas Brehme’s strike, but Stuart Pearce had his penalty saved and Chris Waddle missed.
At Euro 1996, England again drew 1-1 with Germany at Wembley, with Alan Shearer opening the scoring and Stefan Kuntz levelling. The match went to penalties after extra time and, with the first 10 kicks converted, Gareth Southgate’s miss proved decisive as Germany prevailed 6-5 in the shootout.
More recent semifinals have produced mixed outcomes. In the 2018 World Cup, England fell 2-1 to Croatia after extra time in Moscow despite Kieran Trippier’s early free kick; Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic struck late to send Croatia through. At Euro 2020 England beat Denmark 2-1 after extra time at Wembley when an own goal by Simon Kjaer took the game beyond 90 minutes and Harry Kane scored in additional time after his penalty was initially saved.
England reached another European final at Euro 2024, defeating the Netherlands 2-1. Xavi Simons put the Dutch ahead before Harry Kane equalised from the spot; substitutes Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins combined for a last-minute winner that sent Gareth Southgate to a second major final as England manager, according to the Press Association.
