England left-back Nico O'Reilly described facing Lionel Messi in Wednesday's World Cup semi-final against Argentina as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." England secured their place in the final four with a 2-1 victory over Norway, and will now face the defending world champions in Atlanta.
This match marks the first time Messi will play against England. With Messi nearing the end of his career, O'Reilly, who has never faced him at club level, stated, "I can't wait. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He's coming towards the end of his career. For me personally, he's the best player to ever touch a football pitch. And yeah, I can't wait for the challenge."
Messi has had a significant tournament, beginning with a hat-trick against Algeria. He became the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup history, equalling Miroslav Klose's record of 16 goals, which had stood since 2014. He has since scored five more, bringing his career World Cup total to 21. His eight goals in the current tournament place him joint-first in the Golden Boot race alongside France's Kylian Mbappe.
Despite Messi being Argentina's primary threat, England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford cautioned against overlooking the rest of the Argentine squad. "He has scored so many goals and contributed to so many over his career. It's great to finally come up against him after so long, and watching him as a kid," Pickford told media at England's training base. "We all know how good Messi is but we also know how good Argentina are. We can't solely rely on [stopping] Messi. We've got to focus on their other strengths and the weaknesses we can take advantage of."
The winner of the England-Argentina semi-final will advance to the World Cup final at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, July 19. They will face the winner of the semi-final between France and Spain, who play each other on Tuesday.