England held their nerve to overcome Argentina’s determined fightback and finish the World Cup in third place with a tense 26-23 victory at the Stade de France.
Ben Earl and Theo Dan touched down but England will rue allowing a 13-0 lead to slip away, the Pumas clearly out to avenge their rout when the teams met in the pool stage seven weeks ago.
The remaining points for England in an arm-wrestle of a contest in which ‘Kamikaze Kids’ Tom Curry and Sam Underhill excelled were supplied by Owen Farrell’s flawless kicking, which ultimately proved the difference between the sides.
England have now finished in the World Cup’s top three on five occasions, with only Saturday’s finalists New Zealand and South Africa managing more podium appearances.
Argentina were roared on by the neutrals in a 77,674 crowd and with only pockets of Red Rose supporters present, it was the most partisan atmosphere Steve Borthwick’s side have faced at the World Cup.
Farrell was booed repeatedly and Ben Youngs drew the same reaction when he jogged off with half an hour left, even though the nation’s most capped player was making his 127th and final appearance.
The evening was not much fun for Henry Arundell, who ran in five tries against Chile yet was passed the ball only once here, reducing one of England’s most dangerous runners to the role of bystander until he was withdrawn with 15 minutes left.
Having produced among the worst semi-final appearances in World Cup history against New Zealand, Argentina were far hungrier as they looked to emulate their previous best tournament performance of third place in 2007.
It was the Pumas side who edged Wales in the last eight that ultimately turned up at the Stade de France, although it took them time to get going
England initially picked up where they had left off in Marseille by scoring freely, a short pass from Marcus Smith slipping Earl through a gap and there was no stopping the number eight from 15 metres out.
It was part of a bright start by England, who kicked intelligently and were accurate in everything they did, enabling them to build a 13-0 lead when Farrell added two penalties.
Argentina were already on the ropes but they took heart from making headway through the white defence until they were sent hurtling backwards at a scrum in front of the posts.
Emiliano Boffelli got the Pumas off the mark with a penalty but it was all they had to show for period of ascendency, their prospects not helped by two knock-ons at key times.
England’s own play had become more ragged and when Farrell kicked away possession and a penalty was conceded, Argentina went on the rampage with a sweeping attack that ended when Tomas Cubelli went over.
The officials declined to check for an obvious forward pass during the move but there was nothing controversial about the Pumas’ second try when Dan missed a tackle that allowed Santiago Carreras to glide into space and finish with class.
Dan’s redemption was instant as from the restart he changed down Carreras’ clearance, gathered the ball and scored.
As chants of “Argentina, Argentina” sounded around the Stade de France and the Pumas vigorously celebrated winning a penalty, there was a sense of occasion of the match even if play was stop-start and often ugly.
Farrell and Nicolas Sanchez traded penalties and with neither side able to seize control of the game, an edgy climax approached.
Sanchez missed what should have been a routine penalty and England were not troubled again, closing out the match in the right half of the pitch.
Venezuela 1-1 Argentina: Rondon equaliser thwarts world champions on Messi return
Argentina dropped points in a second successive CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier, as Venezuela held them to a 1-1 draw in Maturin.
The spoils were shared at Estadio Monumental de Maturin, where Salomon Rondon's second-half header cancelled out Nicolas Otamendi's earlier effort.
After heavy rain delayed kick-off, Argentina took the lead in the 13th minute.
Venezuela goalkeeper Rafael Romo failed to properly clear the returning Lionel Messi's free-kick, and Otamendi reacted quickest to poke home from 12 yards out.
The hosts went close to levelling either side of the break. German Pezzella cleared off the line from Rondon, while Geronimo Rulli - deputising for the suspended Emiliano Martinez - kept out Yangel Herrera's powerful header.
However, Venezuela did grab their equaliser in the 65th minute - and subsequently a point - when Rondon rose at the near post to power home from Yeferson Soteldo's cross.
Messi returned to the international scene for the first time since limping off in tears during the Copa America final.
But the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner could not help Argentina get back to winning ways, while he conceded possession the joint-most times (19) by any visiting player.
The conditions certainly affected the flow of the game, and was more to the suiting of Venezuela. Although they had just 40.1% of possession, the hosts outshot their opponents 16-8.
However, they have now failed to win their last five CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers; their longest streak since going six without victory between June and October 2021.
England 1-2 Greece: Pavlidis ends Carsley's perfect start with stunning brace
Vangelis Pavlidis' dramatic 94th-minute winner brought Lee Carsley's perfect start to life as interim England coach crashing to a halt, as the Benfica forward netted twice in a stunning 2-1 win at Wembley.
Pavlidis danced through the Three Lions' static defence to give Greece a shock lead early in the second half, only for Jude Bellingham to fire home a leveller in the 87th minute.
But England struggled to find their groove with captain Harry Kane out injured, and after Greece had three goals disallowed, they could have few complaints when Pavlidis took advantage of a defensive mix-up to score a famous winner deep into stoppage time.
England's willingness to throw men forward allowed Greece plenty of opportunities in the first half, and only a spectacular goal-line clearance from Levi Colwill prevented the visitors from going ahead when Anastasios Bakasetas lobbed Jordan Pickford.
Pickford was then arguably fortunate to win a foul when his missed punch led to Konstantinos Mavropanos nodding the resulting corner in, before Cole Palmer fired off-target from a great position at the other end.
Anthony Gordon headed Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross over shortly before half-time, but Greece continued to threaten and got their reward four minutes after the restart.
Receiving the ball with three white shirts surrounding him in a crowded penalty area, Pavlidis showed great feet to retain possession before slotting his finish beyond Pickford.
Pavlidis was denied a second goal by the offside flag seven minutes from time, and England drew level just four minutes later, with Bellingham's side-footed finish packing too much power for Odysseas Vlachodimos in the Greece goal.
There was to be one final twist, though, as England's hapless defence missed multiple chances to clear their lines in the 94th minute, allowing Pavlidis to take possession and fire into the bottom-left corner to spark wild celebrations among the Greek fans.
Data Debrief: Wembley woes ancient history for Greece
Prior to Thursday, Greece had never scored at Wembley and had failed to beat England in nine competitive meetings (two draws, seven losses), being shut out on seven occasions.
But they showed no fear on a memorable night in London, beating a team ranked in the world's top five by FIFA for the first time since overcoming France en route to their stunning success at Euro 2004.
While Lee Carsley fell short of becoming the first England boss since Fabio Capello (in October 2008) to win his first three competitive matches in charge, Greece claimed a huge scalp on an emotional night, one day after the tragic death of full-back George Baldock.
'Cool' England records would mean more with a win, says Root
Joe Root says the records that have been broken in England's match against Pakistan will mean a lot more if they come in a victory.
England are in a strong position heading into day five in Multan, after a dominant display of force with both the bat and ball on a record-breaking day on Thursday left Pakistan requiring 115 runs with four wickets remaining, while the tourists also have a second batting innings in hand.
Root, who on Wednesday became England's all-time leading run scorer in Test cricket, put on a partnership of 454 with Harry Brook, who plundered 317.
Former England captain Root was eventually dismissed for 262, his highest individual score, bringing an end to the fourth-highest partnership of any wicket in Test cricket history.
Brook, meanwhile, became the second-fastest player to reach 300 in terms of balls faced, as he became the sixth England player to hit a triple-century and put Brendan McCullum's team on the fourth-highest score in a single Test innings (823-7 declared).
Reflecting on the records while speaking to BBC Test Match Special, Root said: "They are pretty cool things. It would mean a lot more if we can win this Test match. You look at the situation where they had 556 on the scoreboard and to be this ahead in the game is the best thing.
"So many good things have come from it and I am very pleased for Harry. I've never seen an England batter get a 300 and that was nice to watch.
"It's obviously nice and I am sure when I finish my career, I will look back and feel good about it. It will be a nice thing to look back on at the right time. I want to contribute for a long while and make big scores like this one and hopefully win more Test matches for England."
The celebrations from Brook and Root were not huge, and Root put that down to fatigue.
"There was a lack of emotions, partly down to the heat. Just the amount of energy that is taken out of you playing in these conditions is huge. It's been quite pleasing to acclimatise and just drawing that mental resilience," he said.
"I make sure I do the work and put myself in some really tough situations in training so that I am really ready for these conditions.
"I know I can bat for long periods of time and when it gets tough, I can get through it."
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