England’s biggest rivals RANKED ahead of mouth-watering Argentina semi-final
England have faced some unforgettable opponents on the biggest stage, creating rivalries that stretch back generations. But where do Argentina, who stand in England’s way of making the World Cup final, rank among England’s fiercest rivals?
Croatia and Spain have both broken English hearts over the last 25 years, but the Three Lions have even deeper rivalries elsewhere.
Here’s our ranking of England’s six biggest rivals.
6. Wales
One of two countries to share a border with England, this one features almost by default.
England’s economic, population and infrastructural club football advantages render this one a bit one-sided. The international equivalent of a Leeds United vs Bradford City, or Bayern vs 1860 Munich.
The close proximity means there’ll always be spice, but these are teams competing in different weight divisions.
The vast majority of the historic meetings between the two neighbours were in the now defunct British Home Championships and long forgotten by everyone but footballing anaroks.
Still, most England fans would be lying if they didn’t admit to taking an extra bit of satisfaction out of beating them at Euro 2016 and the 2022 World Cup – if only because of what they meant to the Welsh.
5. France
This one is almost entirely about football. Outside of the most antiquated tabloids and your most ardently tub-thumping uncle insisting on calling them “the French“, there’s little genuine animosity between the two nations these days.
And really, England vs France doesn’t have anything like the history of Argentina or Germany. Can you even remember what happened when they met in the group stages of Euro 2012, for example? (A 1-1 draw featuring goals from Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott; we had to look that one up).
A minor rivalry, but one that threatens to become a proper one if England can fulfil their ambitions and follow France’s lead to become a genuine footballing superpower of European football.
Meeting in a World Cup final, with 2022’s quarter-final clash still fresh in the memory, could crank this one up several notches.
4. Republic of Ireland
This rivalry has always carried more emotional weight than sporting balance.
Jack Charlton crossing the Irish Sea transformed the fixture, culminating in Ray Houghton’s famous winner at Euro 88 before the nations played out a less memorable stalemate at Italia 90.
But England’s recent Nations League victories felt routine rather than momentous, underlining how far apart the two nations currently are.
And let’s not mention Declan Rice.
3. Scotland
The oldest international fixture in football deserves more respect than to be dismissed as another one-sided grudge match.
If Wales are the little brother desperate to land one punch, Scotland are the older sibling still reminding everyone they used to win the fights.
England hold all the cards nowadays, but boomers will remember a time when Scotland produced better footballers, had club sides every bit as good, and qualified for the 1974 and 1978 World Cups while their neighbours watched from home.
What they’d give for the balance of power to swing back in that direction.
2. Germany
The war undoubtedly lingers in parts of the discourse, and the cliches write themselves.
The chants. The tabloid headlines. Gary Lineker’s famous quote about football ultimately ending with Germany winning. Some of it has aged badly, some of it was never funny in the first place.
Yes, there remains an uncomfortable element of England support that dusts off ’10 German Bombers’ whether or not the fixture is on the horizon. But for most supporters, the rivalry owes far more to football.
England and Germany simply keep producing unforgettable matches. Whether it’s Geoff Hurst, Andreas Brehme, Gareth Southgate, Michael Owen’s masterclass in Munich or Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal in Bloemfontein, almost every generation has its defining chapter.
Including arguably the finest hour from Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions and a well-deserved 2-0 victory at Euro 2020.
We’re now pinching ourselves watching England consistently make the latter stages while Germany routinely fails to make it to the last 16 of World Cups.
Unthinkable for anyone who watched football at any point between the 1970s and early 2010s.
1. Argentina
The feeling (read: hatred) is mutual.
We’ve somehow gone the entirety of Lionel Messi’s 21-year international career without a meeting of the historic rivals, but time is no healer. This remains the big one.
Few fixtures in the history of international football carry the weight of history quite like England vs Argentina. Alf Ramsey infamously referring to Argentina as “animals” in 1966. Diego Maradona’s Hand of God and Goal of the Century in 1986. Diego Simeone and David Beckham in 1998. Michael Owen’s expert dive over Mauricio Pochettino in 2002.
Beyond the football, the historical context is bigger than the Falklands.
“When Argentina got independence from Spain, at the beginning of the 19th century, Britain was the biggest power in the world,” explained historian Dominic Sandbrook in a recent appearance on The Rest is Football.
“Britain was hugely influential in Argentina. I mean, that’s why they have football, why they play rugby, gentlemen’s clubs, boarding schools, all those things they basically got from Britain.
“So Britain was always the big brother. They looked up to us, but they also resented us. And I think that has built and built over the years.
“And they sing in their dressing room; ‘if you’re not jumping you’re English’, the fans sing that, they sing about the Falklands.
“We are for them, and we always have been, going back well before the Falklands War, the one team they wanna beat.
“They regard us, rightly or wrongly, as the benchmark. And I think the issue with them, if we play them, it means so much to them to beat England.”
You don’t like football if you can’t get excited about this fixture.
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