England vs. Argentina: Head-to-head record and past meetings

England and Argentina will lock horns in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup on Wednesday evening, with the winner progressing to Sunday's final.

The Three Lions beat Norway 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the tournament, while Argentina recorded a 3-1 victory over Switzerland last time out.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides ahead of Wednesday's blockbuster contest.

Head-to-head record

Previous meetings: 14

England wins: 6

Draws: 5

Argentina wins: 3

England and Argentina have locked horns on 14 previous occasions, and it is the former that lead the overall head-to-head six wins to three, while there have also been five draws.

The two nations have met on five previous occasions at a World Cup, with England winning their first meeting in the competition 3-1 back in 1962.

England would then go on to beat Argentina 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the 1966 World Cup en route to winning the trophy for the first and only time to date.

However, it was Argentina that triumphed 2-1 in their quarter-final clash in June 1986, with Diego Maradona scoring both goals for the South Americans.

Maradona's 'Hand of God goal' is one of the most famous moments in the history of football, with the Argentina star controversially using his hand to score, and he then went on to register another iconic goal - one of the best individual efforts in the history of football.

Argentina then beat England 6-5 on penalties in the last-16 stage of the 1998 World Cup following a 2-2 draw, with David Beckham controversially sent off following an incident with Argentina captain Diego Simeone.

However, England gained some revenge in the 2002 World Cup by triumphing 1-0 in the group stage courtesy of a goal from Beckham.

The last meeting between the two sides was a friendly in November 2005, which England won 3-2, and nine of their previous 14 games have been non-competitive fixtures.

There is no downplaying the rivalry between these two proud footballing nations ahead of what is shaping up to be a fascinating semi-final clash at the 2026 World Cup.