England star Marc Guehi piles pressure on Argentina with nine-word comment

England star Marc Guehi piles pressure on Argentina with nine-word comment

There has also been plenty of debate about the kit selection, with Argentina being granted special permission by FIFA to wear their dark blue away strip.

They have a winning record against England wearing their secondary colours as opposed to their iconic blue and white stripes.

Tonight’s fixture could see the Three Lions reach their first World Cup final since 1966, but Guehi isn’t feeling the pressure ahead of kick-off.

He believes the onus will be on Argentina, as the defending champions, to ensure they are not dethroned in their quest for back-to-back titles.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Guehi said: “What’s the pressure? The onus is on them. They’re the world champions.” He then issued a nine-word challenge, adding: “They need to come out and defend their title.”

The defender continued: “A big game with big players. Both sides have great players. When you have that, it’s just going to be a good game. You know it’s going to be a fun watch and one we will be talking about for a long time.”

The main challenge for England will be figuring out how to stop Lionel Messi, who will be facing the Three Lions for the very first time.

Quizzed on the threat posed by Messi ahead of the match, manager Thomas Tuchel said: “They buy into the idea to support Messi, to help him, and they’re just ready when he bursts into action to make the difference.

“We will prepare for that of course. Can you prepare for that and find a recipe and focus too much on him? No. We need to be brave around him and we need to stop the support, and we need to take care of all the movements that happen when he’s on the ball.

“We’re totally aware that they cannot stop him all the time and for one hundred per cent. It’s a very different player than Erling Haaland, but we did very, very well in our way, in the way you maybe should play against Erling. We will find a way now.”