Kathmandu: It’s going to be a late night for football fans here in Kathmandu with the kind of kickoff time that means someone’s alarm is set for the middle of the night and someone else is just not sleeping at all. Sixty years after England’s only World Cup win, against this very opponent, the two are meeting again and this time it’s the semi final.

That 1966 quarter final is still talked about. Geoff Hurst scored late to send England through 1-0, though most people remember the game more for Antonio Rattín’s red card than the result. FIFA brought in yellow and red cards partly because of what happened that day.

Argentina got their revenge twenty years later. Diego Maradona ran England ragged in the 1986 semi final and Argentina lifted the trophy in Mexico that same month. Anyone who grew up watching football on a small TV set here will have heard that story told more than once.

The two sides have met twice more at World Cups since then. Argentina won on penalties in the 1998 Round of 16 and England had a hand in knocking Argentina out at the group stage in 2002. But neither game carried the weight this one does.

Argentina Still Searching for Their Best Form

Argentina haven’t looked like themselves at this World Cup, if we’re being honest. The attack is still the most dangerous in the tournament but the champions have leaked goals in four straight games and haven’t managed a single clean sheet.

None of their knockout opponents looked especially threatening on paper and yet Argentina needed extra time to get past both Cabo Verde and Switzerland. Against Egypt they were two goals down late in the game before somehow finding a way through. It hasn’t been pretty.

They’ve won every match and that counts for something. No real wingers, a defense that looks unsettled, too much weight resting on Messi’s shoulders; the problems are there for anyone watching to see. But Scaloni’s side are champions for a reason. They know how to get a result even on a bad night.

Team News

England will be missing two important names. Jarrell Quansah is suspended and Jordan Henderson is out with injury. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are both carrying knocks that could limit what they’re able to give on the night.

Argentina have no such worries. Scaloni has his full 26 man squad to choose from.

Key Players

Jude Bellingham’s brace against Norway took his World Cup tally to six goals, the same number he managed for Real Madrid across all of last season. Harry Kane has scored six as well. Between them, Bellingham and Kane have scored all but one of England’s 13 goals here.

With the attack taken care of, it may come down to Elliot Anderson to do the harder, quieter work of shielding the back line and likely the biggest test of his career so far.

Messi’s own scoring run ended against Switzerland but he still set up a goal, taking his World Cup assist tally to 10, a men’s record. His Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul has a big job ahead of him in midfield.

And if this one goes all the way to penalties, don’t be surprised if Emiliano Martínez, who has made something of a habit of saving them, ends up being the difference again.

Prediction

This has the makings of a tight, nervy match, maybe one that runs into extra time. Both sides have real weaknesses to exploit and real strengths to lean on which makes it genuinely hard to call from here. Could go either way and honestly, that’s probably why we’ll all still be up watching it.