CORNERFLICK
For the first time in World Cup history, all four teams at the top of the FIFA rankings have reached the semi-finals.
England, France, Spain and Argentina have all advanced to the last four, and all four have won the tournament before. It is only the third time the World Cup semi-final line-up has consisted entirely of former champions, after 1970 and 1990.
The 1990 semi-finalists in Italy were Argentina, Italy, West Germany and England. In 1970 in Mexico, the four sides were Brazil, Italy, West Germany and Uruguay.
Argentina’s place in the last four is their third in the past four World Cups, having also reached that stage in 2014, 2022 and 2026. Before 2014, they had not reached the semi-finals since 1990.