Former Super Eagles and Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has opined that England have very little chance of defeating Argentina in the second semi-final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 39-year-old faced Lionel Messi's Argentina twice at the Copa Mundial, one in 2014 and again in 2018, but came out on the losing end both times as the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner found the back of the net.
Messi is currently joint top-scorer for the 2026 World Cup alongside French striker Kylian Mbappe, who was part of the team that lost to Spain last night at the Dallas Stadium in Texas.
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Leo Messi's Argentina will defeat England – Mikel Obi
Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane have led the line well for England, but Mikel, a vocal Messi fan, believes the best the Three Lions have to offer cannot match the Argentine's ability to change a game in a split second.
“I'm a Messi fan, I want Argentina to win,” the AFCON 2013 winner said on the Rest is Football podcast alongside Joe Cole, Micah Richards, Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker.
“How do you stop Messi? We've all tried, and we've all failed. One thing I have to say is that he's just a genius. I mean, he's a fantastic player when we used to play against Barcelona.
The one-time UEFA Champions League winner reminisced on the memories of Jose Mourinho coming up with plans to stop Messi in training, which was almost an impossible task.
“It's just incredible. Obviously, a week before the game [Chelsea vs Barcelona], we used to talk about how we'd take him on, how we stop him. Mourinho always tried to come up with something.
“You can't defend one-on-one against Messi, it's impossible.
“Man to man? You can, but you don't want to just walk around a player like that. With the way they move the ball around to find one person, if it finds him, everything else changes.
“The way he dribbles with the ball, it's like there's a magnet at his feet. And the vision, the things he sees, he's one of the best passers in the world. We talk about his goals, but his passes are incredible,” Mikel continued.
Mikel concluded by saying England's coach, Thomas Tuchel, might come up with a plan to assign Declan Rice to man-mark Lionel Messi, which would just be playing into the strengths of the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner.
“Argentina will win. England haven't been great, they've had just one good half. Lionel Messi and Argentina will find space in that midfield between Declan Rice and Anderson.
“Also, you don't want to have Declan Rice man-marking Messi, because you'll take so much away from him. That'll be the space Messi will love, and if he gets the ball there, you're dead.
“For me, that's where the game will be decided. The bodyguards Messi has know how to fight for him. They've been there, done that, so I think with that in mind, Argentina have the advantage,” the one-time UEFA Europa League winner concluded.
The game between England and Argentina will be played tonight at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in GA, Atlanta. Kick off is scheduled for 8:00 PM WAT.
England manager Thomas Tuchel confirmed to Sky Sports that Declan Rice is fit to start the World Cup semi-final against Argentina after recovering from illness.
