Twenty-eight years on from David Beckham’s red card against Diego Simeone, Jordan Pickford has warned England they must keep their heads when they face Argentina in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final in Atlanta — a fixture already simmering with tension.
The Everton goalkeeper, who this week became England’s record appearance-maker at World Cups with 18 games, surpassing Peter Shilton, knows all about the dark arts Argentina may deploy. Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martinez and goalkeeper Emi Martinez all carry reputations for gamesmanship. Emi Martinez famously tried to psyche out France players in the penalty shootout Argentina won in the 2022 final.
“Jordan Pickford urges England to stay focused and avoid dark arts ahead of World Cup semi-final against Argentina.”
But Pickford is confident Thomas Tuchel’s side will not be rattled. “I think you’ve seen throughout the tournament our desire to win tackles,” he said. “We’ve not gotten into any scuffles or anything. We’ve been very well respectful within the game. Decisions go our way, they don’t go our way. We just reset, we go again and we let the football do the talking.”
The only England player suspended for the semi-final is defender Jarell Quansah, serving the second match of his ban after a red card against Mexico. “Apart from Jarell, we’ve not had any suspensions, no second yellow cards or anything like that,” Pickford added. “It just shows our mentality we have and we don’t get wrapped up in things like that.”
England face the reigning champions in a match that has also prompted police to brace for possible disorder, given the historical rivalry between the nations. Pickford urged fans to forget the past. “I think you’ve seen throughout the tournament our desire to win tackles,” he said. “We just reset, we go again.”
The Three Lions will also have to stop Lionel Messi — the “Little Magician” Pickford knows will be tough to contain. “I’ll never forget playing against him when he went…” began Pickford, but he knows Argentina boast plenty more threats beyond their captain. Victory would send England into the final, but first they must survive the mental battle as well as the physical one.
