Argentina defeated England 2-1 in a dramatic 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinal to advance to the final against Spain. The match, played in Atlanta, was defined by a historic late comeback from the defending champions, who overturned a second-half deficit in the final minutes of regulation time.

The match began with a tense, physical first half that featured no shots on goal and numerous fouls, reflecting the deep-seated rivalry between the two nations. Anthony Gordon broke the deadlock in the 55th minute with an acrobatic finish from a Morgan Rogers cross, giving England their first real scoring opportunity and putting them on the verge of their first World Cup final since 1966.

England subsequently retreated into a defensive shell, relying on goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who made several crucial saves to preserve the lead while Argentina struggled to break through.

Lionel Messi became the central architect of Argentina’s resurgence, providing two critical assists in the dying stages. In the 85th minute, Messi set up Enzo Fernández, who fired a stunning long-range shot to equalize.

Three minutes into stoppage time, Messi delivered a precise cross to substitute Lautaro Martínez, who headed home the winning goal. The victory extended Argentina’s legacy of overcoming adversity in the tournament and ended England’s bid for a second title in 60 years.

Argentina will face Spain in the final at MetLife Stadium, while England will play France in the third-place match.

The semifinal revived one of soccer’s fiercest rivalries, marked by iconic moments like Diego Maradona’s "Hand of God" and "Goal of the Century" in 1986, and David Beckham’s red card in 1998.

The match reignited diplomatic friction regarding the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), with Argentine Vice President Victoria Villarruel referring to England as "usurping pirates," leading to restrictions on fan banners.

Argentina’s win keeps alive their dream of becoming the first team since Brazil (1958–1962) to win back-to-back World Cups. Messi, appearing in his sixth World Cup, continues to extend his record of impacting knockout-stage matches.

Spain defeated France 2-0 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-final, ending the French team's bid for a third consecutive final appearance and securing Spain's first final spot since their 2010 victory. The match, played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, saw Spain completely neutralize France’s star-studded attack led by Kylian Mbappé, who was rendered ineffective by a disciplined Spanish defensive structure.

The decisive moment arrived in the 22nd minute when Lamine Yamal drew a foul from Lucas Digne inside the box, leading to a penalty converted by Mikel Oyarzabal. This goal marked the first time France had trailed in the tournament, shifting the psychological momentum significantly.

France’s troubles compounded when William Saliba was forced off with an injury shortly after, disrupting their defensive stability. In the 58th minute, Pedro Porro doubled Spain’s lead with a clinical strike, effectively sealing the match.

Despite France’s attempts to inject energy with substitutions like Rayan Cherki and Desire Doue, they failed to create meaningful chances against a Spanish side that had conceded only once throughout the entire tournament. Spain will now face the winner of the England-Argentina semi-final in the championship match on July 19.

A Russian Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, carrying NASA astronaut Anil Menon, Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1447 UTC Tuesday (July 14) and autonomously docked with the International Space Station (ISS) at 1752 UTC, just three hours after liftoff.

The Soyuz executed nominal side booster separation about two minutes after liftoff, followed by second stage separation about 2.5 minutes later, as the rocket flew at 169 kilometers(km) in altitude. Third stage orbital insertion and separation was completed at about 8 minutes and 46 seconds, putting Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft and crew on course to chase down the ISS.

The Soyuz MS-29 capsule autonomously docked with the Prichal module of the ISS while both were flying about 418 km above the Mediterranean Sea. Following hatch opening at 2030 UTC, the trio floated into the ISS, welcomed by the seven astronauts already living aboard the ISS — NASA's Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams, the European Space Agency's Sophie Adenot, and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev, and Andrey Fedyaev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

The MS-29 trio will spend about eight months living and working on the orbiting lab. Menon will help conduct a wide variety of scientific experiments during that stretch.

"He will continue research to refine in-space production of semiconductor crystals to enable the large-scale manufacturing of components needed for high-performance computers, artificial intelligence, and improved medical devices," NASA officials wrote in a July 9 media advisory. "Menon also will perform ultrasound using augmented reality and artificial intelligence methods that could eliminate the need for medical support from Earth on future space missions."

This is Menon’s first spaceflight and the second for Dubrov and Kikina, who will remain on the station for an eight-month mission through April 2027. The new trio will transition to Expedition 75 after the current crew commander Kud-Sverchkov, flight engineers Williams and Mikaev depart on Soyuz MS-28 later in the month.

Menon has already been to space, though not with NASA. In September 2024, while an employee of SpaceX, she flew on the company's Polaris Dawn mission to Earth orbit becoming the company's first flight surgeon. That five-day flight, which was funded and commanded by current NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, featured the first-ever commercial spacewalk and reached a maximum altitude of 1,400.7 km — higher than any previous crewed Earth-orbiting mission had gotten.

Kikina, the only female member of Russia's active astronaut corps, flew to and from the ISS back then on SpaceX's Crew-5 mission. That was a big deal: She was the first Russian ever to fly on a private U.S. spacecraft, and the first cosmonaut to fly on any American space vehicle since December 2002, when cosmonauts Valery Korzun and Sergey Treshchov came back to Earth from the ISS aboard the space shuttle Endeavour.