Argentina kick off England mind games with 'special request' for semi-final

Just four teams remain in the World Cup, with the semi-finals taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

The second of these matches will come from the Atlanta Stadium, where rivals England and Argentina will meet in a match which has been 21 years in the making. 

This fixture will finally see Lionel Messi face England for the first, and more than likely only time in his international career. 

The match is already bringing back memories of past World Cup encounters at the 1986, 1998 and 2002 editions of the tournament, with Argentina winning two of them. 

Ahead of Wednesday's game, Argentina have made the first move in the mind games between the two nations, with journalist Gaston Edul reporting that the defending champions have made a request to wear their navy blue away shirt instead of their traditional blue and white striped shirt.

Why Argentina want to wear away shirt for World Cup semi-final

In such a high-stakes match, both teams will be looking for any way to get a slight edge over their rivals, and for Argentina, they are hoping nostalgia and history can help their bid to reach a second successive World Cup final. 

The country's two most famous World Cup victories over England, the quarter-finals of Mexico '86 and the Round of 16 at France '98, saw Argentina wear a navy blue shirt. 

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In what is the biggest competitive meeting to date between England and Argentina, the latter is once more hoping to have the psychological edge by wearing a shirt which brings back bad memories for England fans. 

Have Argentina played in away shirt at 2026 World Cup? 

Out of the six matches Argentina have played at this World Cup, they have worn their away shirt just once. 

That came in their final group game against Jordan in Dallas. 

The defending champions won 3-1 with Giovani Lo Celso, Lautaro Martinez and Lionel Messi all on the scoresheet.

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