England vs. Argentina: How Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham can rewrite record books in World Cup 2026 semi-final

Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham could etch their names into England’s history books when they face Argentina in the World Cup 2026 semi-finals on Wednesday.

The Three Lions have progressed to the final four of the World Cup for just the fourth time in their history after edging past Norway in the quarter-finals, winning 2-1 after extra time last weekend.

Bellingham grabbed the headlines with a match-winning brace in Miami, netting a crucial equaliser on the stroke of half time before scoring a few minutes into extra time to seal the victory for Thomas Tuchel’s men.

The Real Madrid midfielder, who also scored twice in a memorable last-16 triumph over Mexico, has now scored six goals in total at this summer’s tournament, the joint-most for England along with Kane.

England’s captain followed up his three goals scored in as many group-stage games with an important brace in the 2-1 comeback victory over DR Congo in the last 32, before converting from the penalty spot against Mexico.

Courtesy of Kane and Bellingham’s prolific form, England have become the first team to have two players score more than five goals at a single edition of the World Cup.

England have scored 13 goals so far at the 2026 tournament and 92% of them have been netted by Kane and Bellingham – among teams to have scored 10+ goals in a single edition of the World Cup, this represents the highest-ever ratio of goals scored by two players for one nation.

Kane, Bellingham can cement themselves as England legends vs. Argentina

While Bellingham is enjoying his best goalscoring campaign at a World Cup, Kane has already matched his 2018 tally of six goals that helped him win his first Golden Boot on the global stage.

The Bayern Munich striker’s performance in Russia brought him level with Gary Lineker, who netted six times during the 1986 World Cup as England advanced to the quarter-finals.

As things stand, Kane (twice), Lineker and Bellingham hold the joint record for the most goals scored by an England player at a major tournament, with two matches still left to play at this World Cup.

If either Kane or Bellingham manage to find the net against Argentina on Wednesday, they will hold the record outright – an impressive feat that could prove difficult to beat in the future.

Victory for England on Wednesday will see them reach their first World Cup final since their 1966 triumph, while defeat will force Tuchel’s side to face the losers of France vs. Spain in the third-placed playoff.

Kane already holds the record for the most goals scored by an England player in World Cup history across multiple tournaments, netting 14 goals in 17 appearances.

The 32-year-old surpassed Lineker (10) in second during the group stage, while Bellingham has moved onto seven career World Cup goals – including one in 2022 – placing him above 1966 hero Geoff Hurst (five) and third on England’s all-time goalscorer list at the tournament.

England vs. Argentina: What else could Kane achieve in semi-final?

Arguably the first name on the teamsheet, Kane is expected to start as captain for England against Argentina and is set to earn his 121st international cap.

In doing so, Kane will move above Wayne Rooney (120) into second place on the all-time appearance list for the Three Lions and just four behind record holder goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who played 125 times between 1970 and 1990.

Kane believes that England still have ‘another level to reach’ after a challenging quarter-final clash with Norway and has highlighted the team’s togetherness as a key characteristic heading into the semi-finals.

“[It was a] Tough game, hot, really brutal, almost more so than Mexico with the heat and humidity but again, we found a way,” Kane told reporters.

“It wasn’t our prettiest performance, we know that. I said before in the press conference that there’s another level we can reach. I still feel like we didn’t reach it as a team.

“But we have match-winners - Jude [Bellingham] was the game-changer again today but the boys at the back, Pickers [Jordan Pickford], everyone put in an amazing shift, this man next to me [Elliot Anderson] as well.

“Everyone involved put the hard work in. The most important element of this team is togetherness and we showed that again today.”

England vs. Argentina: What else could Bellingham achieve in semi-final?

As for Bellingham, he and Tuchel shared contrasting views on how England performed against Norway, but the midfielder is still expected to start against Argentina in an advanced central role behind Kane.

Bellingham is the first player to score two or more goals in consecutive World Cup knockout games since Argentina legend Diego Maradona in 1986 – no-one in history has ever scored twice in three successive knockout matches.

Scoring twice on Wednesday, coupled with Messi drawing a blank in front of goal, would move Bellingham ahead of Kane and into joint-first position in the Golden Boot race along with Messi and Mbappe currently on eight goals.

Bellingham has scored a goal every 168 minutes under Tuchel (six goals in 1,005 minutes), his best ratio under any manager in his career, and he will back himself to make an impact once again in the semi-finals.

The same can be said for Kane considering that Argentina have conceded in each of their last four World Cup games, requiring extra time to beat Cape Verde and Switzerland in the last-32 and quarter-finals respectively.

Indeed, one former England player believes that Tuchel’s men will be less afraid of Argentina than the South American side will be of the Three Lions, exclusively telling Sports Mole that the psychological advantage lies firmly with the Europeans heading into the semi-final.