Jordan Pickford insisted Argentina are World Cup champions because of the quality in their entire squad, not just their captain, Lionel Messi. 

England take on Argentina at Atlanta Stadium in the semi-finals of the World Cup on Wednesday, with the winner facing either France or Spain in the showpiece match. 

Both teams needed extra time to reach the final four, with Jude Bellingham's 93rd-minute winner helping England to a 2-1 victory over Erling Haaland and Norway. 

Argentina, meanwhile, beat 10-man Switzerland 3-1 thanks to strikes from Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez, with Messi also getting an assist at Kansas City Stadium. 

With that assist against Switzerland, Messi became the second player on Opta record (since 1966) to record 10+ goal contributions in multiple World Cups (2022 and 2026) after Kylian Mbappe (2022 and 2026). 

Messi has taken the World Cup by storm this summer, scoring eight goals and is level with Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot ahead of France's semi-final against Spain. 

"Everyone will talk about Messi because he's one of the GOATs [greatest of all time] of the game," Pickford said.

"But you can't look past the ability and the talent we've got in the squad – going forward, defensively, togetherness.

"We've got it all there and that's what we need to put on show on Wednesday.

"But we also can't just talk about Messi. They're a good side and they're reigning champions.

"They're a good side, but we've got so much ability in our squad going forward, and we're hard to break down.

"We've got that resilience, we've got that togetherness and we've got that mentality. That's what makes a good team."

England have lost just two of their 14 internationals against Argentina (W6 D6), though their most recent defeat did come at the World Cup, going down 2-1 at the 1986 edition of the competition through Diego Maradona's brace.

The Three Lions are also unbeaten in their last five internationals against Argentina (W2 D3), winning each of the last two in succession, with the most recent a 3-2 friendly victory in November 2005 thanks to two goals from Michael Owen and a Wayne Rooney strike.

Bellingham's brace against Norway also claimed England's fourth consecutive World Cup win, their longest winning run within a single edition since 1966 (five), but Thomas Tuchel was far from impressed by the performance. 

Tuchel described the display as "sloppy" and said that England were "lucky" to progress, with Bellingham responding to his comments by claiming the Three Lions boss did not know how to play in such conditions. 

It prompted questions about a divide in the camp ahead of their match with Argentina, but England captain Harry Kane reassured that the mood in the squad was just fine. 

"When you are playing a game like that and to be asked a question five minutes after the final whistle, and he didn't really know what had been said, what do you want Jude [Bellingham] to say?" Kane said.

"We had just been through a battle. It is easy to try and create this division – it seems like an English thing to do at these major tournaments.

"But it is the complete opposite. The group is where we are because of our complete togetherness – not just the players, the coach and the staff.

"Things sometimes get made out to be more than they are."