{"id":252726,"date":"2026-07-13T10:29:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/13\/piers-morgan-plays-down-lionel-messi-threat-and-names-player-who-will-be-key-in-england-vs-argentina-fifa-world-cup-sf\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T10:29:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:29:56","slug":"piers-morgan-plays-down-lionel-messi-threat-and-names-player-who-will-be-key-in-england-vs-argentina-fifa-world-cup-sf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/13\/piers-morgan-plays-down-lionel-messi-threat-and-names-player-who-will-be-key-in-england-vs-argentina-fifa-world-cup-sf\/","title":{"rendered":"Piers Morgan plays down Lionel Messi threat and names player who will be key in England vs Argentina FIFA World Cup SF"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5191083\" data-slug-id=\"2807629\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>British broadcaster Piers Morgan has downplayed the threat of Lionel Messi in the England-Argentina semi-final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Atlanta on Wednesday (July 15) as he named <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/jude-bellingham\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Jude Bellingham<\/a> as one to look out for.<\/p>\n<p>Bellingham has caught fire in the knockouts, with successive braces propelling the Three Lions to a fourth <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/go\/fifa-world-cup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">FIFA World Cup<\/a> semi-final, second in three editions. His latest outing was a two-goal burst in the 2-1 extra time win over Norway in the quarter-finals. <\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>That made the Englishman the first player since Argentine legend Diego Maradona (1986) to score braces in successive World Cup knockout games, leading Morgan to consider Bellingham as a bigger threat than Messi as he tweeted:<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;All this fearful talk of \u2018how will England stop Messi\u2019 is ludicrous. The much more pertinent question is how will Argentina stop Bellingham? He\u2019s the real superstar of this World Cup.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>With six goals in as many games, the Real Madrid midfielder has joined his captain Harry Kane in fourth place in the Golden Boot leaderboard, two behind Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi and one adrift of Norway&#8217;s Erling Haaland.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Lionel Messi set to play England for the first time as Argentina eye place in 2026 FIFA World Cup final<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"image\"><noscript><\/noscript><img class=\"lazy-img\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1231\" data-img=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/1e6b9-17839294008157-1920.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/1e6b9-17839294008157-1920.jpg?w=190 190w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/1e6b9-17839294008157-1920.jpg?w=720 720w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/1e6b9-17839294008157-1920.jpg?w=640 640w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/1e6b9-17839294008157-1920.jpg?w=1045 1045w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/1e6b9-17839294008157-1920.jpg?w=1200 1200w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/1e6b9-17839294008157-1920.jpg?w=1460 1460w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/1e6b9-17839294008157-1920.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/1e6b9-17839294008157-1920.jpg 1920w\" alt=\"Argentina  vs Switzerland: Quarter-Final - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Source: Getty\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/07\/1e6b9-17839294008157-1920.jpg?w=640\" bad-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,&lt;svg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%201920%201231%22&gt;&lt;\/svg&gt;\"\/><figcaption>Argentina  vs Switzerland: Quarter-Final &#8211; FIFA World Cup 2026 &#8211; Source: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Argentina captain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/lionel-messi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Lionel Messi<\/a> is set to feature for the first time against England in his illustrious career, having missed the two teams&#8217; last clash in a November 2005 friendly because of suspension.<\/p>\n<p>Having been sent off less than a minute into his international debut, the then 18-year-old Messi was suspended as the Albiceleste lost 3-2 to the Three Lions in Geneva.<\/p>\n<p>However, two decades later, he&#8217;s set to face the 1966 champions with a place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final at stake. The Albiceleste are taking on the Three Lions in the quadrennial event for the first time since a 1-0 group-stage loss in Sapporo in the 2002 edition in South Korea-Japan.<\/p>\n<p>While the three-time champions crashed out in the group stage, the Three Lions reached the quarter-finals, where they lost 2-1 to eventual winners Brazil, wth Ronaldinho scoring a memorable free-kick from distance to beat David Seaman.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Bhargav<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/football\/news-piers-morgan-plays-lionel-messi-threat-names-player-will-key-england-vs-argentina-fifa-world-cup-sf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>British broadcaster Piers Morgan has downplayed the threat of Lionel Messi in the England-Argentina semi-final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Atlanta on Wednesday (July 15) as he named Jude Bellingham as one to look out for. Bellingham has caught fire in the knockouts, with successive braces propelling the Three Lions to a fourth [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":252727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-252726","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}