When Lautaro Martinez headed home in the 92nd minute, there was still a glimmer of hope it wasn’t all over. But it is now.
England last played Argentina at the World Cup in 2002. Back then, 13.3 million people tuned in to terrestrial television sets to watch David Beckham’s dramatic winning penalty.
How times change. Not only the result, but last night the Daily Mail joined 1,500 fans four storeys underground at Outernet Live, a venue off London’s Tottenham Court Road, to watch the game on a 6K Ultra HD LED ‘screen stage’ 13.5 metres wide and five metres high, dubbed ‘the largest venue screen in London’.
‘I’m here because I want to feel like I’m actually at the match, and this is the closest thing,’ said 47-year-old Kasun in a red England shirt as he queued for entry shortly after 6pm.
With the enormous screen, the din of the crowd, the flying cups of lager and the heaving, sweaty bodies pressed tightly together, Kasun was probably right – this was as good as it gets without flying 4,000 miles to Atlanta, Georgia.
By 7.15pm Outernet Live was full to rafters. ‘Sixty long years!’ bellowed MC Tony TNT, roaming the venue with a microphone and recalling the halcyon days of 1966 before leading the crowd in a boozy rendition of Hey Jude in homage to Bellingham, the midfielder on whose shoulders the hopes of a nation rested.
As the clocked ticked towards kick-off, Turner, Toby and Guy – three colleagues who work in tech sales – admitted to being ‘more than a little shaky’.
‘By 2pm everyone in the office started thinking about the game,’ revealed Toby, in his twenties. ‘Then by 5pm we were all going to the toilets to get into our football shirts.’
England football fans in despair at the Luna Springs in Birmingham, during the England v Argentina semi-final
An England supporter holds his head in his hands as he watches a live broadcast of the 2026 World Cup semifinal football match between England and Argentina, at Boxpark Wembley in London
Fair to say then that, despite it being a weekday, preparations had started early.
‘The fans aren’t as drunk as they were last weekend for the Norway game,’ admitted one security guard with a knowing grin. ‘But I’m sure they’ll catch up.’
By 7.30pm, bars around London were filling up, with the bouncer at Mr Fogg’s Tavern expecting it to be ‘standing room only’ by kick-off. ‘For a game this big you need to be where everyone else is,’ claimed England fan Dan Boccolini, who’d travelled down to the capital with friends from Hertfordshire.
‘I felt sick when I woke up this morning,’ he continued, before being interrupted by a drunken fan draped in an England flag who shouted: ‘The Falklands belong to us! Put that in there!’
Indeed, with political tensions running high, it’s no surprise Argentinian fans made themselves scarce, with not a single blue and white shirt spotted by the Daily Mail in any of the pubs around Covent Garden.
Thankfully, by the time the teams walked out on to the pitch, there was no talk of the Falklands – nor of the Hand of God.
Only of God Save the King, as the crowds in Outernet Live exploded into a frenzied rendition of the anthem followed by the bang of confetti cannons.
Meanwhile, the streets of London fell oddly silent as fans filtered inside. Indeed, the capital had risen to the occasion, with everywhere from Vue cinema screens to the Clapham Grand, Camden’s Electric Ballroom and Lightbox Nightclub in Vauxhall converted into fan zones showing the match.
It reached 8pm and the American ref blew his whistle. By the time England midfielder Elliot Anderson was fouled in the third minute, the crowd had been whipped into a frenzy.
Faces were turning red with rage, uncouth gestures were made towards the big screen and voices were already running hoarse. Just the 87 minutes to go then.
The BBC commentator said the game ‘bordered on nasty’ – but the truth is, this wasn’t a game of football, it was a brawl on a football pitch.
And oh, how the England fans back home rose to the occasion. When Fifa president Gianni Infantino appeared the crowd booed as though he were wanted for war crimes.
When the first Argentinian player was booked, they cheered as though we’d scored. Throughout the match, the 1,500 men and women at Outernet Live kicked every ball, rose for every header and protested every refereeing decision.
‘He’s been bought!’ cried one fan as yet another decision went Argentina’s way. ‘F*** Messi!’ screamed a young lady pressed up against the barriers.
When Anthony Gordon slipped in a goal – his first of the tournament – the crowd let out a deafening roar of sheer pride.
But then it happened, a brace from the Argentinians – the second, cruelly close to the death – and silence descended. Part disbelief, part horror.
The British Pub and Beer Association estimated some 14 million pints would be poured last night, a 75 per cent increase on a typical Wednesday in July.
As the crowds filtered out into the late evening light on Tottenham Court Road, you would have been forgiven for thinking the 1,500 attendees had put a strong dent in that number.
In the end though, it was nothing more than drowning sorrows. Sixty long years, and the wait goes on.
Additional reporting: Sam Hudson
