After controlling much of the early play and taking a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute, England seemingly went into a shell, attempting to pack the back end and protect its lead while losing the aggressiveness that got it the lead in the first place.

Messi said victory in the semifinal was "quite a special one, especially playing against England with all the historical context".

England had 12% of the possession from the time that Gordon opened the scoring to Martinez’s winner 38 minutes later.

The much-hyped France-Spain encounter, billed by many as the "final before the final", turned into a tactical exhibition rather than the edge-of-the-seat spectacle supporters had anticipated.

England have lost only two of their 14 meetings with Argentina, winning six and drawing six. One of those draws was followed by a penalty-shootout defeat in the last 16 of France 1998.

Elfath, an American citizen born in Morocco, will officiate the England-Argentina clash, with fellow Americans Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins serving as his assistant referees.

When the defending champions face England in Thursday's World Cup semifinal in Atlanta [1am, Bangladesh Time], Lionel Messi and company will swap their traditional sky blue and white stripes for their dark blue away kit.

Many refuse to say opponents' names, wear the same often-unwashed jerseys, sit in the same seats and eat the same meals before each match, convinced that changing anything could jinx the team's chances of lifting another trophy.

Argentina and Britain fought a short conflict over the islands known by the British as the Falklands and Argentines as the Malvinas in 1982, in which 649 Argentine soldiers and 255 British combatants died.

That will change on Thursday [1am, Bangladesh Time] when Argentina meet the European side in a World Cup semifinal in Atlanta, a heavyweight clash that Argentina's FA (AFA) described on its website as "the match fate owed Messi."

Despite the celebrations, neither Thomas Tuchel nor Lionel Scaloni attempted to mask their teams' shortcomings.