England vs Argentina Preview: Where’s Geller when you need him? | 2026 FIFA World Cup

0:0033 days, 33 episodes, no off switch. From the goals and the glory to the politics and the problems of the World Cup, if you want soccer analysis from a podcast that's been over-analyzing the game for more than 20 years, then this is it. Join me, Max Rushton, and our expert team of soccer journalists every day of the tournament. Can England end 60 years of hurt, or will this be another year of falling just short? Probably. World Cup Daily, listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch full episodes on YouTube. Where's your playlist taking you? Down the highway, to the mountains, or just into daydream mode while you're stuck in traffic.

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0:56Luke Moore: You're a pro at running your life, at committing to your workout, at showing up every day. At Bombas, we're pros too. Pros at making socks. Our sport assortment has specialized socks for whatever sport you're committed to. Running, hiking, golf, Pilates, and so much more. Made with sweat-wicking yarns, blister-fighting details, and targeted art support. Bombas Sport is pro-level socks from the pros of socks. For another pro, you. Go to bombas.com slash audio and use code audio for 20 % off your first purchase. That's Bombas.com and use code audio. I declare there will be joy, everybody. Welcome to the Football Ramble.

1:34Luke Moore: It's massive. It's England versus Argentina in the semifinal because it's Wednesday, 15th of July. I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Luke Moore. And I'm Jim Campbell.

1:53Luke Moore: Hello, everybody. and welcome to another very special England live stream. The World Cup semi-final is upon us. Na na na, na na na, na na na, na na na, na na na. Yes. I'm not as confident as that song made me sound. It's England versus Argentina. It's been a long time since we've had to suffer this fixture. But here we are again, Jim Campbell, and it is a semi-final. Here we are, and this is what we're here for. Yes. I'm excited. I will be nervous before the game when it sort of gets, you know, closer into view. But we are here for this sort of thing, right? You want these massive, massive games.

2:34You want these massive occasions. You want a test against a good team. And I have said this a few times recently. I don't think England have ever been better placed, certainly in my lifetime, to win a game like this. Yeah. That's one way of looking at it.

2:50Luke Moore: Well, it is. Is that to do with the quality on the pitch? and what we've seen so far in this tournament, the emotional and mentality of the team. Yes, mentality is the word. How can you question the mentality, Jim? I'm not. Okay. It's happening again. Yeah, so I just think England have managed the emotion of the occasions of the game so far very, very well. I think if you look at the ridiculous Iceland game, you know the DR Congo game is threatened to be that moment Dr Congo Dr Congo amount of times we've got to defend them they've spent a long time at medical school qualification yeah and it's disrespectful to not call them Dr Congo so that was an opportunity for England to sort of lose their minds a little bit as we've seen with that famous Iceland game and there was never a feeling that that was actually going to happen and I know that's an extreme example but I do think because of the Southgate era and getting to finals and getting to semi-finals and having these long stays in tournaments England are now really mentally well equipped to deal with this because they've been there before yes Luke yeah I think I agree a lot what Jim's saying there broadly that makes sense to me this is a level above that though in terms of the expectation and the occasion and the rivalry and the history I would say that even and keeping your head in the Azteca in that situation, although impressive, and it was impressive, and we all saw that, this is a different challenge again, particularly given that Mexico were there to win and in front of their own fans, they were hugely motivated as co-hosts and all the rest of it, and we talked a lot about what they haven't achieved in World Cups and what they'd like to achieve, et cetera, et cetera, but they weren't actively out to make this something more and lean in on the history because there isn't really a big history between England and Mexico when it comes to football.

4:48Here there is. So I'm not saying that England can't manage this occasion, manage this challenge. They may well be able to. But this is a different challenge entirely, I think. It's a whole level above. Argentina are a good team. They're not the team of four years ago and they're not the team, they're not the best team in the tournament, I wouldn't say. They're in that group sort of below France and Spain, but they're still a big challenge and I think you know it's a nerve-wracking occasion because of all the stuff that comes along with it and we've got two interesting semi-finals we've already seen one of them of course the one we saw yesterday was really about technical you know ability and systemic brilliance against individual individual players and all that kind of stuff and we saw what came out of it I think I just feel this one tonight will just be a rollercoaster ride it's going to be a blockbuster it's not going to be a movie which is you know check out the mise-en-scene and the technical ability of the director it's going to be this is going to be all action from start to finish catch your breath while you can because it's going to be Zack Snyder it's Michael Bay it's going to be a Michael Bay grueler is what it's going to be Steven Spielberg yeah and I hope I hope football finds a way

6:03Luke Moore: I hope it does maybe it will yeah I know what you mean it's it is difficult that we are going to do it but it is difficult to just look at this as a football fixture and just talk about the football because of all the stuff, as you mentioned there, all that kind of business. Because if you were just looking at it in a footballing kind of way, I would actually feel quietly confident for England. Yeah, I agree. I think of the three teams, the three other seeded teams that England could have been put on the path, the same side of the group, providing they all won their groups, which they did. If you were to choose, you know, who would you like to play in the semifinal?

6:37Luke Moore: this France, this Spain or this Argentina, pure footballing terms, I would choose Argentina. I would. Yeah, absolutely. I think the nervousness, as you said, certainly from my point of view, comes with all the other stuff. And when you're playing a team who really dislike you and are beyond determined to win because of the weight of it, then that obviously provides a kind of an extra layer. And it will be interesting how England approach this game. my strong suspicion will be that they will almost try and rise above not get dragged into that I think there's an opportunity to use it against Argentina well go on if the game goes that way and there's no it won't necessarily actually be that way because Scaloni will be saying the same things to Argentina about presumably not getting too caught up in the emotion well he has said that already he said that publicly in press conference yeah exactly both managers should take that approach but if that does begin to happen and this is true of both teams really you have to just let one team kind of blow their own gaskets right just let them work themselves up don't get sucked into it yeah and Jordan Pickford said some interesting things oh he's a fine one to talk this is a game for Pickford but if Pickford saying these things he just went calm down Jim calm the fucking fuck down your country needs you to calm down yeah so Lord Fidgeter he's he said you've seen throughout the tournament, you've seen our desire to win titles.

8:07We've not gotten into any scuffles or anything. We've been very respectful within the game. If decisions go our way or if they don't go our way, we just reset. We go again and we let the football do the talking. It just shows our mentality. We don't get wrapped up in things like that. We stay focused. Now, this will be the biggest test of that possible, potentially. But that encourages me hearing that they're thinking about this stuff and they're talking about it because you don't want a David Beckham-Simeone moment. You don't want a situation where you start playing well and then there's a contentious tackle and then every two minutes there's another one and you can't play because of that.

8:39They need to be wary of this stuff and clearly they are.

8:42Luke Moore: Yeah, I agree. I think the temperament is utterly key for England because Argentina, they will be roared on. You would think there'd be more Argentinian supporters in the stadium than English supporters. Both have taken big numbers. Unsegregated seats apparently, which is slightly... Well, we sincerely hope, obviously, everything is absolutely fine with regard to that. but again the noise the Argentina fans make we know that they're phenomenal fans they're noisy fans they travel in huge numbers they have the marvellous support it's you know my hope would be that yes some of those players you know they get almost like too emotional about it however the emotional side of it will be huge and actually that's the kind of thing that can drag a team through a game of football that's right that's what I was going to say you've got to channel if you are going to do it you've got to channel it right you have to use it as a motivation and do it you know the words of Neil Warnock by being disciplined.

9:32But I think it benefits... Look, it benefits Argentina for them to make this a more emotional occasion, right? Because they're not as good as England overall. I think generally speaking, I think we can safely say that. And ultimately, their kind of relationship with the rivalry with England, without getting too much into the jingoist stuff that we've seen from the usual characters kind of letting themselves down. Don't propose to get into that here. But what I would like to say is their relationship when it comes to football with England is far more fiercely felt than I think England's is with Argentina.

10:05I think England, you know, have embarrassed themselves with a number of different rivals over the years and so we have a kind of lot of stuff a bit closer to home to deal with.

10:12Luke Moore: Have you seen kids in, or even more kids in Argentina shirts before in this country? Yeah. Right. Exactly. You just wouldn't get that. No, you wouldn't. So we understand that from that point of view it's a slight imbalance on how the occasion is going to be affected or approached, sorry. And if you don't want to take my word for that, Just listen to what Llanos Galoni said in the press conference. There were certain types of the, certain aspects of the media in Argentina who were putting questions to him and he just ends up getting pissed off and saying, no, no, stop. It's a football game. That's it.

10:41Start and end of it is a football match and we're focused on that. And he wasn't, and I actually was quite impressed with it. I think there will be other characters down the years who've managed national sides who would have looked to have tapped into that, particularly these days. You get a lot of populism going on these days as we all know. So he would be keen to make sure his players, if they are going to get emotionally invested in it are getting emotionally invested in the right way. England, I think you guys are spot on. England need to ultimately rise above it. And if they need to find something to lift themselves, they can look within themselves.

11:11And they're kind of similar to what they did with Mexico, right? We're up against the wall here. This is tough. You know, we're down to what we're down to. It's extra time, all the rest of it. They've got experience of doing that. So I think, like I say, it will be about playing the game and not the occasion. And if it comes down to just the players on the pitch, I would agree with you. I would take the team that England can put out over the team that Argentina can put out even with the Lionel Messi factor which we haven't talked about yet.

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12:4833 days, 33 episodes, no off switch. From the goals and the glory to the politics and the problems of the World Cup, If you want soccer analysis from a podcast that's been overanalyzing the game for more than 20 years, then this is it. Join me, Max Rushton, and our expert team of soccer journalists every day of the tournament. Can England end 60 years of hurt? Or will this be another year of falling just short? Probably. World Cup Daily, listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch full episodes on YouTube. Where's your playlist taking you? Down the highway? To the mountains? Or just into daydream mode while you're stuck in traffic?

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14:20Luke Moore: So let's get into more of the football side of it and who may play and who won't. So obviously the only absentees for England tonight obviously Jordan Henderson although I love the fact that you mentioned it before the Norway game he was there doing the drills before the game his arm was off. But he can technically play. Right. I mean if England get to the last five minutes and they need whatever some I won't be thrilled with that. No, I won't either. With all respect to him. I'm pretty sure he can technically play. Fine, fine. Absolutely extraordinary turn of events. With a walk-in wounded. Put him in goal.

14:54Luke Moore: Another red car. It's like, Jordan, he's looking at Jordan Henderson and Cobby Maynou. Well, I'm not going to go for Cobby. Rashford annoyed me the other week, so he's not coming on. Poor old Cobby Maynou. One of only three outfield players that hasn't got any minutes in this tournament. But anyway, so Henderson, he's not going to play. and obviously Gerald Kwanzaa is still suspended because of that, I think, harsh decision to extend it to a two-match ban. But there we are. That's the situation. Listen, you spin the FIFA Wheel of Fortune and you get those all you get. Who knows? You muck around with a Tom Bother in FIFA's headquarters and whatever you pick out, you've got to take.

15:28Luke Moore: Could have won a car. They could have won a car, but they didn't. But Declan Rice returned to full training on Monday after recovering from his stomach bug. It depends which reports you read. some are saying like he's full fit and mad for it and others saying well he's recovered as much as one could from something like that was it mouth and bum or just mouth or just bum don't know and I don't need to know Jim what do you think what's your speculation I think mouth I think he does things properly I think it's probably both ends I think it's just bum yeah I would presume if you're in bed for three days something like that I think it's both ends I think it's a bit of both definitely mouth I mean the man has needed a rest yeah yeah so it's been an enforced rest one that depletes you a lot sometimes I quite like getting ill I'm like oh I've got a little sniffle I can justify I can justify not really doing much for two or three days try that when you've got kids as well it's amazing yeah I won't because I don't it would be simply inappropriate for me to do that yeah true sorry mate that was a fair comment of mine so I hope Declan Rice has approached it in the same way and has been rested and has just been relaxing as much as he can but I don't think he's the type of character who knows how to relax he will be ratting around that pitch as much as he can I wonder how much we can get out of him I think it might be a situation where he comes off after an hour again and my biggest fear is obviously a William Saliba situation where it all catches up with him and he gets a proper injury but I think it's very important to have a plan for that to happen and I wonder if Maynou will be in the thinking because I don't like as much as we've all kind of suggested or speculated that it might be a good thing I don't like moving Jude Bellingham further back.

17:06I think you need him as high as possible. But yes, but he has adjusted it in the last game. Well, look at Norway. He brought Rhys James in and then put Bellingham further forward again.

17:13Luke Moore: But that didn't work. And then they reshuffled the pack. And it seemed to be better when Morgan Rodgers, who is a powerful player, came on. But you're right, Jim. Then you kind of almost, you're playing like with two sort of tens. Having said that, though, who was the man who was on hand to slot the shot away when the goalkeeper spilled it? Well, that's what I mean. Yeah, you want him in those positions. But Rodgers was on the pitch at that time. Rodgers had the shot he had the shot so I do take your point there Jim I think if Rodgers in the Luka Modric role I think I am and Jordan Henderson just behind but I think with Declan Rice I really hope that he is back to full fitness obviously because if you have a midfield of Rice, Anderson and Bellingham up against Argentina yes they've got battle-hardened warriors who have won this tournament okay so let's not sort of kid ourselves too much but I do think you have that and with the pace England have on the wings with Gordon I think this could be a great game for Anthony Gordon I think England can exploit that because in Messi you still have one of the best players in the world I don't know about the best player because of his age but he's scored a load of goals at this tournament he's adjusted his game really well too hasn't he?

18:22Luke Moore: He has indeed but if you look at some of his stats I mean obviously these are a little bit tongue-in-cheek Jim but his average speed at this World Cup is 2.7 miles an hour which is the average walking speed of a 50 year old Yeah, when you put it like that, he's a finished fraud, isn't he? Yeah, well, he's walked 47 % of the World Cup, apparently. But he's got eight goals in the tournament. So we all know what he's doing and it's worked. You know, they are where they are and he's contributed. Can I come in on that? Because just quickly on the Rice thing, I wouldn't back against Rice starting. I think he's a warrior.

18:51He'll definitely start. And he gives you a thrust that you need. To me, it's about how long he stays for. So on the other stuff, completely agree with you about the wide areas. I think Gordon can definitely exploit Argentina in wide areas, and I think Saka can as well. So who starts on the right side? I think Saka will start. I think Saka will start. Maduweke, the way Tuchel does things, there's no way Tuchel's watched that first half an hour of Maduweke against Norway and thinking starting him again.

19:21Luke Moore: He does seem a bit of a weak link. The only reason why I ask who starts is if Saka tires and we think he still had his fitness issues, after sort of an hour you bring on Maduweke. Well, you might bring him on. there's no way I think Saka will start you have to start your best team in this game and I think Konza will start right back and I think Spence will be introduced as a bit more we'll get to the defence in a bit but the point I'm really keen to make is that I am of course really happy that we're playing up against a 39 year old Lionel Messi and not a 25 year old one right obviously because that goes about even a 35 year old because you saw what he did the last tournament exactly but the thing about Messi and we've never been doing this show when England have played against Messi in a competitive game that matters, right?

20:02He's never played against him. Yeah, he's never done it. That's what I'm saying. So this is a new experience for us, right? To be on the other side of the admiration for Messi, which we've been able to do from the sidelines the whole time, right? So you've got to be careful what you say because he's still so dangerous. But I honestly think there's two things to take into account. One is that I think Konza and whoever comes in, I mean, obviously probably with John Stones, comes in there, will be absolutely relishing the chance to play against him and it's a personal challenge for each of them. And secondly, he does not defend.

20:34He simply does not defend. And the final point I just want to make on that and the reason that's so important is because if you look at who Argentina have been up against, you could be forgiven for feeling like it's a bit almost like a France-Spain scenario. Well, England may not win this game tonight. They may not. It's a semi-final. It'll go either way.

20:51Luke Moore: Like everybody else on the planet, you can't predict the future. No, Argentina... Apart from Yuri Geller? I know, he just influenced it. We need Geller tonight, I'll tell you that. Yeah, we'll take him on board for sure in the Jordan Henderson role. He can bend Henderson's arm like a spoon. But... I think it doesn't... Heal it. Yeah. It kind of feels a little bit trite to sell a point of view, as I say now. It's been derailed. But there's no way Argentina can get away with essentially defending with nine outfield players against a really good team. And I wonder whether England will kind of sniff that and know that Messi can pull something out of nowhere.

21:30We'll know that if he plays into the latter stages and there's some gaps opening up, he's a magician. We know that. But ultimately, at the risk of setting myself up for a fall, this is a guy who plays in MLS. This is a guy who is impressed in this World Cup against teams who aren't fit to lace his boots. He's the greatest player to ever play the game. I firmly believe that. But he's coming up against a really good team tonight. And I just wonder whether the big moments might matter when it comes down to whether they can actually get away with defending with nine against this team who've got rapid wingers, who can exploit space, who are admittedly quite bad defending transitions, but are really devastating on their day-end transitions.

22:08You look at the thrust that Rice provided against Mexico. He bombs forward. No one can deal with it. Messi ain't tracking that. No chance. It's whether they've still got the legs in them to be able to do it, isn't it? I think that's what Argentina will be banking on. That England will tire later. And obviously, because as we've mentioned, Messi adapting his game, walking for a lot of it, very deliberately, understandably, saving his energy. I think the later stages are where that becomes a bit less. But England can introduce players. Sure. But in the midfield, though?

22:35Luke Moore: Well, again, Rodgers, you know, you can have a tinker there. I mean, to be honest with you, I know Tuchel hasn't played him, but Kobe Mayne has got way more energy. You know, he's got... He's a confusing one, isn't he? I think you're right, Luke. I think that it's odd to sort of say this. and again could set yourself up for a fall. But right now, you're looking at what you have in front of you. You're trying to, you know, you're previewing the game. We don't know what's going to happen later. England will go one nil up after two minutes. And we'll go, oh! We'll throw our pints. But the noise will be slightly...

23:11Luke Moore: But with regard to Messi, Messi is kind of, he's like a luxury player in a sense with Argentina at the moment. And luxury players, obviously, you know we've seen them do devastating things we've seen Messi do great things so you always want to caveat it with that but you are right look now that midfield of Paredes, Fernandes, McAllister, De Paul they are warriors and they're ready and they know what their role is they all know what their role is in this team but then you start getting to the back line with Tagliafico at the back and Molina again warriors and battle hardy and all those kind of cliches you you know there's one way to beat them get round the back I think that's it and the match You can't reach up with our wingers.

23:49Luke Moore: You fancy our guys. I would, Jim. And they're not, you know, a McAllister and DePaul, who are very narrow, are they going to start doubling up on Gordon and Saka? Because that then stretches that midfield, which is a compact unit, which is there to basically serve Messi to do his thing. You know, there are, you know, Thomas Tuchel, the way, the things he was saying, Luke, of course he's on the save wavelength, with yours. And if we're all saying this, you know, the England manager might have noticed it as well. And Tuchel was saying, right, you can't stop Messi 100 % of the time. And he said, I thought about doing an old school man marking job on him, but I don't think that's a good idea.

24:27Luke Moore: And I don't think that's a good idea because you essentially lose one of your players. You're just going to have to be comfortable with the fact that at various points, you have to turn around and go, where is Messi? Where's the greatest player that's ever played the game? I know Julian Alba has scored. Yeah, well, fine. But you have to, you're just going to have to be comfortable with that because if England can be comfortable with that and push on, they will have a numerical advantage because Messi is not going to track back. And that's where you're going to have to, you know, on the wings, you know, who are the fullbacks going to be to support the wingers as well?

24:59Luke Moore: That is where out wide you're going to have, you know, some success there. Tuchel also said this game, the way Argentina set up, it could bring the best out of us. And he's been pretty consistent with that message throughout the tournament, has Tuchel. When the games get bigger, we'll get bigger. We saw a little bit of that against Mexico, of course. You know, those two goals England scored in the first half, the first one in particular. So the red card changes the complexion of the game. Against Norway, Tuchel was unhappy with the performance, and rightly so. It was a funny old game that England got through it, got on and into the next round.

25:33Luke Moore: You forget about that. This game, England have to be at the races here, and I think they will be. And I think Elliot Anderson will be crucial when he's got to pick up those pockets of space where Messi and Alvarez like to go and then get forward and help the attack and so on and so forth. But where I'm sitting right now, there's just a hint of quiet confidence within me. And the same, but it depends how the game transpires. It depends how disciplined England can be. Of course. Because ultimately, Messi is just a man, right? He's just a man. And he's 39. And he's not going to... You've just read the stats out and we've all seen him.

26:10The reality is, and this doesn't mean he's not going to score a hat-trick and put on a masterclass against England because we know he's capable. And if England get in their own heads and Argentina and Messi start well early, clearly he's still got it in the tank to do it. All I'm merely pointing out in a totally neutral way is that the goals he's scored and the teams he's done it against so far have been in an A, an unconvincing Argentina side overall. Look at the profile, the results they've got. You know, they beat Argentina, they beat Switzerland because Mbolo as a brain fart. I mean, that's an opportunity for Switzerland

26:43Luke Moore: than that that they threw away. They had life and death against Egypt and some would say the decisions they got were amazing refereeing wise. They had life and death against Cape Verde. No. If England lost to Cape Verde in a knockout game in the World Cup it would be the worst result in their history. Of course. So you've got to bear this in mind. One of the easiest groups around as well and they've not done an awful lot of travelling. They've been a bit it kind of reminds me a bit about what Germany have been like. A bit flat-trap bully-ish. Fine. Yeah, Messi can do it. One more for the road.

27:08Great to see it. Greatest player to ever play the game. this is different this is very different and if England can stay on it and England can not get carried away with the idea of Messi this ain't 2012 Messi it isn't even 2022 Messi they should be able to take the game away from Argentina unless they get dragged into the trenches and I say this a lot I'll just reiterate it again now it's like a boxer against a fighter it's what it is England are a boxer Argentina are fighters literally in some cases and what the fighter wants to do in a boxer matches he always wants to drag the box down to his level get in on my chest and trade with me let's have this fight in a phone box i don't want i don't want you at range if england keep them at range they'll out point them easily they'll shut them out they'll shut them out so but the problem is football's got a lot of chaos attached to it you can't always control that right um so the team not the occasion there's a lot to be bearing in mind i think another way of looking at it as well and i think you can probably say this about england too because we you know had our own travails against the good doctor and whatnot, is that Argentina are very, very hard to beat.

28:11And I don't think that is necessarily a symptom of them not being that good. I think this is something that Lionel Scaloni has kind of put into them, that they are comfortable when they're up against it. They're comfortable in those trenches. I think they'll be comfortable with extra time. I think they'll be comfortable going to penalties. They will. And that is a superpower, really.

28:30Luke Moore: They have a great record with extra time and penalties, yeah. And they've done it twice so far as well, which hopefully we're worried about England's legs. Perhaps there's an element of that for Argentina as well. I think they're all fair points. One area is that Tuchel will have to make a decision on is defence, of course. Who's going to be in the back four? You would think that Nico O 'Reilly will be left back. You'd think that Mark Gay will be the left-sided centre-half. Apparently he was impressed with Esri Konza, John Stones making up the back line as well with Konza, of course, at right back.

29:00Luke Moore: I wondered if he was going to do that. I mean they kept Erling Haaland very very quiet yeah different job tonight different side Rhys James is expected to be fit to start of course came on in that game Luke what would you like to see that back line what do you think he should go for I think what I think he should go for and what he will go for will be the same I think which will be O 'Reilly Gaye Stones and Konza I think he'll introduce Spence later on it's difficult to predict that part of it because you don't know how the game's going to transpire but if it goes as you expect you'd introduce Spence later on that's his most impactful performance against Norway he was amazing would you keep Rhys James back just in case Declan Rice can't keep him Rhys James isn't fully fit I don't care what anyone says he's not I think he's been managing stuff for a long time now and I think I think it would be I mean look maybe he will gamble but I think it would be an absolutely astonishing gamble to start with Rhys James because I think there's every chance that he breaks down and then you've got another sub you don't really want to be making.

30:02You've got to make it potentially early. I don't think James is fit to start this game. I don't care what's being said. I just don't believe it.

30:08Luke Moore: So do you think he might keep Rhys James back just in case maybe there's an injury to Rice and he's got that option of putting him in the midfield? Well, he did try it before. But it didn't work that well. It didn't. But again, though, I wonder if we are very quick to look at something with a small sample size and go, oh, that didn't work. Therefore, Tuka will never do it again. He might not see it that way. I mean, we know that Rhys James is very good in that position for Chelsea. And he does not. when he's playing as a midfielder for Chelsea, he does not look like a fullback playing midfield.

30:35He looks like a midfielder. I think Tuchel might retain that sort of trust in him probably above Maynard, really. Because if you want to keep Bellingham forward, which I think is likely, that might be the choice he makes. So you would agree with the back line that Luke said there? I would. In fact, I think I probably would have gone with James, but I think you're right, actually. I don't think he is fully fit, and I don't think I'd considered that clearly enough, because that obviously is going to have an impact on how much he can get up and down. And I don't think we've necessarily seen the best of James at this World Cup because of fitness.

31:08Luke Moore: No, we don't. I mean, as I say, the reports are saying he's expected to be fit to start, but obviously he's been out during this tournament as well. So it would be unlikely he's kind of two months into the Premier League season to sort of Rhys James fit and firing. But you can't have that, can you? So Tuka has got what's in front of him and he will shuffle it around appropriately. Yeah, well, if indeed they did go for Konza at right back and then Stones Gay and O 'Reilly it'd be the first time in this World Cup that Tuchel would name the same back four in two successive games so they have chopped and changed a bit obviously the right back situation we've been very very aware of but I think you're right Luke I think that's probably what he will go with it seems to be kind of the safest option and I think you know Konza he much prefers playing centre half but we know he can do a really good job at right back as well so we shall see you mentioned or somebody mentioned the referee earlier Well, yeah, we were talking yesterday about this sort of conspiracy theories that say in Argentina being favoured by FIFA.

32:06Luke Moore: Luke, David and I sort of didn't really think there was much in that. Is there any truth in it? Well, I mean, sorry, you finished. Well, I was going to say that for those who are suspicious, they won't be happy that Ismael Elfaf is the referee for the game tonight. Messi's won all four games that he's refereed for him for Inter Miami. He was the fourth official for the final in Qatar as well. I mean you're getting into a little bit unnecessary territory here Messi wins loads of games he does win a lot of games he's the best player ever of course he does I think all of this is just a distraction from whatever it is they really do at Area 51 but indeed Jim you're absolutely right let's never take our eyes off that which Elfath is or isn't involved with do you know?

32:44I don't know it goes really deep also Inter-Wanamia are one of the better teams in MLS so I mean it makes sense they've won more look the reason I'm not the reason I I'll dismiss the conspiracies but with a caveat right so essentially what I'll say is a lot of the staff I've seen quite a lot of social media accounts who you know trading this kind of thing talking about did you know this about argentina in the world cup did you know that can you believe this has happened can you believe that hasn't happened this that's happened right some of it is to do with decisions they're getting in games you know and that can happen right um the other stuff is about the amount of travel they're having that to do the amount of the easiness of the group they got and it's like well unless you are really going to go deep into proper conspiracy stuff about you know heated balls in the drawer and the decisions around host cities and all the rest of it.

33:28I mean, that's to do with seeding anyway, isn't it? Yeah, a lot of that is completely uncontrolled by that stuff anyway. The only thing I would say, and it's part of the reason why it's so important that FIFA don't do half the stupid shit they do, i.e. the Balogun staff, the other bits and pieces, is because... It invites this, doesn't it? Yes, it invites the grey area. Well, you never know with FIFA, and then the whole thing gets legs, right? I don't have any fear about a conspiracy for Argentina or against England when it comes to officiating, personally. What I do feel like, however, is the referee needs to be strong because I think that, as ever, in this kind of type of rarefied atmosphere and fixture, if you're one of the teams, you are going, what do we do here to give ourselves the best chance of winning?

34:17And for Argentina, it's going to be levelling the playing field as much as they can, which by which I mean not a hugely dissimilar thing to what Paraguay did against France, right? They're going to try and aggravate England. They're going to look at someone like Jude Bellingham and go, I think there's an edge to him. I think we can get under his skin. And it's a gamble because you might find that if you do that, he takes the game away from you because he just challenges it the right way. But there's also a chance that he gets angry. And it's the same with a couple of other players for England as well.

34:45So the referee needs to be strong, but then the referee needs to be strong for all these occasions. And the final thing I would say is that don't forget that when it gets to this stage, the refereeing teams from the countries that are still involved all get sent home. So the options for refereeing teams are somewhat limited by design because they don't want any of the unconscious bias of, say, Michael Oliver, for example, staying and refereeing the other semifinal. They can't do that.

35:16Luke Moore: Yeah, we could end up with a Brazilian referee. So the pool of refereeing and officials is somewhat smaller. So I wouldn't worry about it. I would say my take as well would finally be, if you're an England fan and you're hearing about this referee, if you've never heard about him before until now, it's probably fine, isn't it? It's probably fine. There has to be a referee. Famous last words though. There has to be a referee. The big flashpoint for this has been Argentina, Egypt. and when we covered that we were like well I mean it's not it's not outrageous there's some stuff that could have gone either way and I thought the response was from Egypt was pretty over the top so I mean it's because it's said in the heat of the moment isn't it the thing with the one of the disallowed goals where there's a foul ages before the goal actually happens but the law it's just the law it's the law that's annoying and it is annoying but it is within the rules that have been set out yeah I think Alan was it Alan Shearer forgive me if that's not true but I think it was Alan Sheehy sort of going on about it and it happens way far back blah blah blah blah and I was like same phase of play but that's the law if the ball goes out for a throw in and they pick it up again it's not disallowed and don't get me wrong the law is ridiculous if that happened to England tonight a goal is chalked off because of that I'm fuming I'm annoyed but you're annoyed at the law not the application of it and I would go as far as to say and we're setting ourselves up for a big fall here because like I say that grey area Jim and I were just saying with FIFA you just never know you just never know but But I've never really felt like, in the grand scheme of things, admittedly across a broader sample size than the World Cup, which is quite short, I can't fully believe that a referee can win or lose you a game.

36:59I think there's so much other stuff you're in control of. I think far too often, 99 times out of 100, it becomes a convenient excuse, a convenient scapegoat, right? And it's really hard to think of times when it's been so outrageous, particularly in modern times with viral stuff like that, that it actually stops you winning a game. I just don't believe it.

37:20Luke Moore: It's a go-to groupthink excuse. I think so. You have to think that if you're a footballer. Yeah, you do. You absolutely do. Because even if you get a bad red card, like a bad red card early on, it's not ideal, obviously. You've got the rest of the game to play. Exactly. Well, look, I think we should come into land now. One thing I would say to try and get everybody to calm the nerves and all the rest of it is Luke you were saying the other day that Bellingham's performance for England is the greatest performance by any English player to date in a tournament he's been this series of performances from him so far has been the best of any individual player I've seen in an English shirt yeah yeah exactly but obviously I didn't watch 1966 no but I think if you look back at that I think you could still make that point I would not swap him for any other player in the tournament no and we have him he plays for England and so does Harry Kane and so does Big Dan Byrne if we need him if you're a bit stressed you know the build up to this game well Thomas Tuchel reveal how he recovers after a stressful match so let's hope we can do this tomorrow but if you know you can't wait till tomorrow and your nerves are getting the better of you then take a leaf out of old Tommy Tuchel's book he says sometimes you just go on a bike and you just need a parking lot with the ice cream in your hand 15 minutes on a bike and then you feel like 15 years old and you enjoy your evening, a warm summer evening for 15 minutes and reconnect to the beauty of that feeling that we all have inside us and that sometimes all it needs.

38:51Luke Moore: Come on, everybody. Here we go. Come on. It's time. It's the semi-final. It's England, Argentina. It's going to be massive. We'll see you on the other side as we always do tomorrow. Come on, England! Come on! Ah!

39:11The Football Ramble is a Stack Production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

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