India, July 15 -- England and Argentina meet in Atlanta tonight for a place in the World Cup 2026 final. It is their first meeting at this stage, their first encounter since 2005 and their first competitive clash since David Beckham's penalty settled a group game in 2002.

Spain await the winners. Argentina are trying to defend the title they won in 2022, while England are chasing a second World Cup, 60 years after their only triumph. Yet few international rivalries have produced so many arguments about cheating, justice, national honour and political history from so few meetings.

The hostility is often explained through the 1982 Falklands or Malvinas War, but the football rivalry had already become toxic 16 years earlier.

Its roots are...