Argentina's Road to the Final: Nerve, Late Goals, England

Argentina did not cruise back to a World Cup final. They clawed their way there, four times in a row, by finding a goal later than anyone watching thought they had left in them. Twice they trailed in a knockout match and won it in the last ten minutes. Twice the tie went past ninety minutes and was settled deep into extra time. By the time Lautaro Martinez's header hit the net in Atlanta to beat England, the pattern was no longer a surprise - it was simply what this Argentina does.

For Lionel Messi, 39 and playing his sixth and, by his own word, final World Cup, that pattern has carried the defending champions to a third career final and a second straight one, this time against Spain at MetLife Stadium on 19 July. Getting there meant surviving Cape Verde, coming back from two goals down against Egypt, going to extra time again against Switzerland, and then doing the same trick against England - down 0-1 with 35 minutes to go, level with five minutes left, ahead in stoppage time.

A group stage that gave nothing away

Group J was tidy business. Argentina beat Algeria 3-0, Austria 2-0 and Jordan 3-1 to finish top with a maximum nine points, conceding once in three games. There was no hint yet of what the knockout rounds would demand of them - no deficits, no extra time, no crisis. That calm start mattered later, because everything that followed in the round of 32 onward asked a completely different question of the squad: not whether they were good enough, but whether they had the nerve.

Cape Verde and the first extra-time scare

The Round of 32 tie with Cape Verde, the smallest nation ever to reach the World Cup's knockout stage, produced the closest Argentina came to elimination before the semi-final. Messi opened the scoring in the 29th minute, only for Deroy Duarte to level it for Cape Verde before half-time. The match went to extra time, where Lisandro Martinez restored Argentina's lead two minutes in - and then Sidny Lopes Cabral produced a curled finish good enough to be one of the goals of the tournament to make it 2-2 in the 103rd minute. Argentina finally won it in the second period of extra time when Cristian Romero's header off a Messi corner deflected in off Cape Verde defender Diney Borges, recorded as an own goal, in the 111th minute. Final score: 3-2 after 120 minutes.

Two goals down to Egypt, then a stoppage-time winner

If Cape Verde was a scare, the Round of 16 against Egypt in Atlanta was the first real test of composure under real pressure. Egypt led 2-0 through a first-half header from Yasser Ibrahim and a second goal from Mostafa Zico in the 67th minute. Argentina had under thirty minutes to save their tournament. Cristian Romero pulled one back in the 79th minute, Messi leveled it in the 83rd, and Enzo Fernandez won it with a goal in the second minute of stoppage time. Three goals in eleven minutes turned a first knockout-round exit into a 3-2 win and set the tone for everything that came after.

Extra time again against Switzerland

The quarter-final against Switzerland in Kansas City followed a familiar shape: control, a lead, a scare, and a finish that arrived only after the ninety minutes had run out. Alexis Mac Allister headed Argentina ahead from a Messi corner in the 10th minute. Switzerland, reduced to ten men, equalized through Dan Ndoye in the 67th minute and held on through a goalless second half. In extra time, Julian Alvarez scored a stunning strike in the 112th minute, and Lautaro Martinez converted a rebound after Thiago Almada's shot was saved to make it 3-1 in the first minute of the second extra period. Two of Argentina's first three knockout games had now gone beyond ninety minutes.

The England semi-final: two goals in six minutes

Argentina and England had not met at a World Cup since their 2002 group game in Sapporo, and Messi himself, despite well over 200 international appearances, had never once played against England. "I've played against everyone except England, so it will be nice for that reason too," he said before kickoff. What followed in Atlanta on 15 July was the tensest ninety-plus minutes of Argentina's tournament.

Anthony Gordon put England ahead in the 55th minute, finishing a Morgan Rogers cross, and for half an hour the run looked like it might finally end. Argentina kept pushing. In the 85th minute, Enzo Fernandez struck from distance, Messi turning provider, to level the tie. Seven minutes later, in the first minute of stoppage time, Lautaro Martinez rose to head home a second Messi assist and send Argentina through, 2-1.

This team plays best when facing adversity. The opponent hesitates a bit, we smell blood, and we go for it. That's the feeling I'm left with.

Lionel Scaloni, Argentina head coach, after the 2-1 win over England

I know the guys. They fear nothing. They don't feel the weight on their shoulders. They're playing like they're seven or eight years old.

Lionel Scaloni, on his squad's mentality

Asked to describe the England win next to Argentina's earlier comeback against Egypt, Scaloni offered two words: "Epic squared." It was hard to argue. Argentina had now trailed in two separate knockout matches and scored the winner after the 79th minute in both of them.

Round of 32 vs Cape Verde

3-2 (a.e.t.) - winner in the 111th minute

Round of 16 vs Egypt

3-2, trailed 0-2, won it with a goal in the 90+2 minute

Quarter-final vs Switzerland

3-1 (a.e.t.) - two goals in extra time

Semi-final vs England

2-1, trailed 0-1, two goals in the 85th and 92nd minutes

What the pattern says about this Argentina

Four knockout games, two of them won from behind and two of them needing extra time, is not a coincidence at this level - it is a squad that does not panic when a plan breaks down. Messi's part in it is inseparable from the results: he scored or assisted the equalizing or winning goal in three of the four knockout matches, including both goals in the England semi-final. Scaloni's team also has a habit few sides carry into a final - they have already had to solve the exact problem, twice, that they may face against Spain: going behind and needing a goal from nothing.

Argentina are already the reigning champions, having beaten France on penalties in Qatar after a 3-3 draw four years ago. Win on 19 July and they become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to retain the World Cup. Messi, by his own account, will not get another chance at this. Everything about the way Argentina reached this final - the nerve in Miami, the fightback in Atlanta against Egypt, the extra time in Kansas City, the two late goals against England - points to a team that has already answered the only question that matters in a final: what happens when the game does not go to plan.

Whatever happens on Sunday, the tournament that follows keeps going. War of Soccer, a free 3D browser football game built by Nyza Creations, goes live the moment the final is decided - a fitting way to keep playing out the kind of last-minute moments Argentina has made a habit of this July.