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THE IMMACULATE SELECCIÓN

For a second there, it felt as if this was going to be a rerun for France of the Human Rights World Cup final. Conceding a penalty at the end of the first quarter and looking lost for most of the game, Les Bleus would eventually click. Kylian Mbappé would lock into PlayStation mode, thundering down the left-hand side before cutting in to erase the two-goal deficit. It would be another game for the ages, going beyond normal time – but Luis de la Fuente’s lads weren’t keen on any drama. In reality, Spain put on a suffocating display of control, even if there was little between the two sides in terms of possession. France, the great entertainers of this Geopolitics World Cup, are off home … though not before a jaunt to Miami for the bronze medal game.

Football Daily feels for Didier Deschamps, who has had to contend with a personal loss away from the game. This was a man who wanted to play his shots on the way out, a teacher wheeling out the TV and snacks on the last day of term for his class. Deschamps did what England supporters used to plead from Gareth Southgate, opting to Take The Handbrake Off. And with it came an exhibition. Michael Olise’s immaculate through ball for Mbappé against Senegal, Ousmane Dembélé cutting in from the right against Norway, their entire display against Sweden. And yet the French end with their worst World Cup finish since 2014. L’Équipe, having turned the telly off and thrown the sweets in the bin, finished marking the homework: twos for Olise, Dembélé and Lucas Digne for their semi-final showing; a three for Mbappé. Brutal.

“I don’t think we played the match we wanted to play, whether tactically, technically, or in terms of our overall performance level,” sighed Mbappé. “When you don’t do what you’re supposed to do in a World Cup semi-final, you don’t win. Our goal was to press them high up the pitch to prevent them from settling into that slow, controlled rhythm, because when it comes to controlling the game they are better than us. We failed to do that … When you put it all together, the result is a defeat. It’s a huge disappointment.”

Instead it’s Spain who will visit the New York New Jersey Stadium, which will host a closing ceremony for the GWC. Fifa has announced performances by Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams, and, um, IShowSpeed, the 21-year-old YouTuber/influencer/streamer/miscellaneous. Fifa will no doubt welcome that sweet, sweet Gen-Z engagement. Tom Cruise will get a run-out too, presumably sky-diving on to the pitch riding a motorbike with Gianni Infantino on his back. This ceremony is separate from the half-time show – “a landmark celebration at the intersection of sport, music and global impact,” according to Fifa – which is very likely to force an extended break in play. Somewhere in the middle of all this will be a game of football, no doubt conducted by Rodri and friends, hypnotising everyone in view.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Join Rob Smyth from 5pm BST for hot minute-by-minute updates from England 1-2 Argentina (aet) in the GWC semi-finals.

RECOMMENDED BOOKING

On Thursday night, you can join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, John Brewin, Barney Ronay and Jonathan Wilson live from their sold-out show at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. Book livestream tickets here.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It’s a football match; I can’t mix things up, out of respect for what happened so many years ago. It was a very sad time in our history, and there isn’t much we can do about it. Mixing the two would be madness. We criticise that there was war. It is a game of football, we need to keep things separate. Yes, we remember Argentinian people and people that were lost in the war, but let’s not conflate things. What do the players of today have to do with many, many years ago?” – Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni calls for calm and perspective before the semi-final against England. Meanwhile back home, vice-president Victoria Villarruel has been keeping things nice and cal … oh. “Tomorrow we play against the usurping pirates,” she roared. “This isn’t just another match. I’m not going to be politically correct or cold-hearted; against the English, it’s always something more. It’s the Malvinas, it’s Diego, it’s Leo’s last one, and it’s putting the brakes on the invaders. Go Argentina! Because until our last breath, we’re going to claim what’s ours!”

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

Are we now going to see an endless supply of letters suggesting 2030 names (yesterday’s Football Daily letters)? While I love Carbon Footprint World Cup, I’d like to suggest the WTFWC. It’s already started with talk of a 64-team tournament. But it will take much more to top the GWC. It started with the suspension of Cristiano Ronaldo’s ban, the award of the Fifa Peace Prize and display of the trophy in the Oval Office, followed by bans of fans, a referee and Iranian support staff. Not to mention travel restrictions, the Balogun incident, spider wires, overturned goals, Paraguay v France and so many more shenanigans. Only a WTF World Cup will be able to top it” – Steve Mintz.

I don’t understand why Gianni Infantino doesn’t take his World Cup expansion idea to its logical conclusion, simply abandoning the whole qualification process and just having a tournament for any country that wants to turn up. Saves the two years or so of international matches which cause such disruption to domestic leagues around the world. Might even be a net gain on the emissions front too. Think about it Gianni!” – Adrian Riley.

Mr Infantino’s definitely missing a trick. Why not go the whole hog, and have two World Cups; one, let’s call it the World Cup, for y’know, the top teams. And another, let’s call it The Rest of the World Cup, for y’know, everyone else. There may well be the possibility of a third string to this, perhaps called the World Vase, played by teams knocked out of The Rest of the World Cup, but give an opportunity to redeem themselves. This model is virtually endless” – Brian Saffer.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day goes to … Brian Saffer. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here. 

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

The latest World Cup Daily podcast is hot to go, while you can watch it too.

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

England head coach Thomas Tuchel’s recipe for dealing with the pressure of a World Cup semi-final? Tapping into his inner child. “Sometimes you just go on a bike and then you just need a big parking lot, an ice cream in your hand for 15 minutes on a bike and then you feel like you’re 15 years old,” he cooed. “You enjoy your evening on a warm, summer evening for 15 minutes with the ice cream and you reconnect to the beauty of that feeling that we all have inside of us and that’s sometimes all it needs.”

Back in England, the nation is very much embracing Jude Bellingham fever before the semi-final with Argentina, nowhere more so than in his home town of Stourbridge. “It doesn’t surprise me that he’s become an international sensation because he’s the coolest man currently living,” gushed local grocery store worker Sam Holden. Meanwhile, West Midlands Railway are offering free travel in the area to passengers named “Jude”.

Haiti have parted company with head coach Sébastien Migné.

And USA USA USA forward Folarin Balogun says that he predicted Donald Trump’s involvement in overturning his GWC suspension would “cause a lot of controversy”, adding: “I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult. A lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid.”

STILL WANT MORE?

Get yer hot England v Argentina pre-match analysis and comment: here’s Jonathan Liew on why this is possibly the greatest and most romantic of all football rivalries. Then we’ve got Barney Ronay anticipating Lionel Messi’s first meeting with England being a contest of will and aura, Marcela Mora y Araujo’s Argentinian take on the antics and vitriol underpinning a rivalry that should now be only about football, Pablo Iglesias Maurer on how the spectre of Diego Maradona still hangs over proceedings and, on the subject of the actual football, Andrew Beasley’s data analysis on how Messi’s running still poses a threat at the age of 39.

Some France v Spain rundown: Jeff Rueter praises La Roja’s flawless execution of their plans and Sid Lowe gives it up for Pedro Porro, while Jonathan Wilson looks at how Didier Deschamps paid the price for leaving France too open. The French media’s verdicts aren’t pretty either.

The World Cup of Calvinball: Beau Dure excoriates Fifa for its hasty, chaotic rule tweaks that have created a refereeing free-for-all.

Have the top four ranked teams ever all made the World Cup semi-finals before? You know and we know that The Knowledge knows.

And here’s a nice little piece on fans who follow teams other than their own countries, and their reasons for so doing.

MEMORY LANE

Hernán Crespo tries to escape the attention of Ledley King and Rio Ferdinand during the last meeting between England and Argentina, at a November 2005 friendly in Geneva. A team featuring Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Ferdinand twice came from behind to snatch a stirring 3-2 win and rouse hopes that 40 years of hurt might be brought to an end at the World Cup in Germany the following summer. After a frantic start, Argentina opened the scoring through Crespo’s close-range effort in the 36th minute. Three minutes later Rooney thumped England level, setting up a thrilling second half in which Walter Samuel nudged Argentina back in front after 53 minutes. They looked increasingly likely to hold on until Owen converted Gerrard’s cross with four minutes remaining and then topped it with a winner in injury time. “If all England friendlies were this good Sven-Goran Eriksson would have been made Mayor of London by now,” wrote Paul Wilson in these pages. But mayoral honours, and footballing ones, eluded Eriksson and his players as they went on to stink the place out in Germany, exiting miserably on penalties against Portugal in the quarter-finals.

BEYOND THE GWC

National League North outfit Morecambe are set to become the first club to be censured by the Independent Football Regulator, having failed to provide information in a timely manner earlier this year.

After her exit from Spurs, Bethany England has moved across town to Crystal Palace, while Aston Villa are set to sign Emily Ramsey.

Harry Winks has swapped League One for Serie A, leaving Leicester for Cagliari.

And Thomas Meunier has joined Sunderland. “When I ​got the ‌call from Sunderland ‌asking me to be part of ‌the project, of course it’s the Premier League – it’s even bigger than European football,” cheered the Belgium international.

MOVING THE GOALPOSTS

The latest edition of our sister newsletter is out today, featuring Tom Garry on how London City are able to embark on such a supermarket sweep.

NOT THE DAY FOR IT