Paul Scholes has predicted that England's World Cup semi-final against Argentina will descend into 'chaos,' with the former Manchester United midfielder forecasting a 4-3 victory for the Three Lions. Speaking on his 'The Good, The Bad & The Football' podcast, Scholes highlighted the contrasting strengths of the two sides ahead of Wednesday's clash at the Al Bayt Stadium.
Similar paths to the semi-finals
Both England and Argentina have navigated challenging routes to the last four. England opened their campaign with an impressive win over Croatia but followed it with less convincing performances against Ghana and Panama in the group stage. In the knockout rounds, they came from behind to beat DR Congo, produced a standout display to eliminate co-hosts Mexico at the Azteca Stadium, and needed extra time to overcome Norway in the quarter-finals, with Jude Bellingham scoring twice.
Argentina, meanwhile, topped Group J with a perfect record but have since faced significant tests. They required extra time to beat Cape Verde in the round of 16, recovered from a two-goal deficit to eliminate Egypt in the quarter-finals, and defeated Switzerland 3-1 in a match that turned decisively only after the Swiss were reduced to 10 players.
Scholes: 'Neither team has played that well'
Scholes believes that neither England nor Argentina have consistently reached top form during the tournament. 'I think the path for England and Argentina have been very similar,' he said. 'I don't think either team has played that well but they've got through games.'
Despite this, the former England international feels that Argentina's recent tournament success gives them a slight edge. 'The biggest advantage for Argentina is that they've done it before and they know how to win these big games in tournaments. We're yet to prove that,' Scholes added.
A chaotic contest predicted
Scholes expects a high-scoring, ill-tempered affair. 'This will be lively, this will be chaos. This could be 4-3 either way, there will be yellow and red cards. If Argentina lose they'll all kick off, that's absolutely guaranteed. And if you lose to them it's horrible,' he said.
He also expressed a preference for facing Spain in the final rather than France. 'I think we can beat Argentina and Spain but I'm not sure we can beat France. I think we need Spain to beat France,' Scholes noted.
England squad preferred despite Messi factor
Despite Argentina's experience, Scholes believes England possess the stronger squad overall. 'I think our semi-final is 50-50, a flip of a coin. Maybe Argentina are just favourites because of the experience but I prefer our squad of players, that's even taking into account Lionel Messi,' he said.
Scholes concluded with his score prediction: 'I'm going 4-3 to England. It will be chaos – there will be red cards and everything, it will all be going off.'
