England are into the World Cup final. Jude Bellingham opened it, Memphis Depay dragged the Netherlands back into it from the penalty spot, and Phil Foden closed it in the 88th minute with the kind of curling far-corner finish that stops a stadium mid-breath. Two-one at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, and the Three Lions have booked a Sunday date at MetLife.
How England took the lead
Thomas Tuchel set his side up in the 4-2-3-1 that has carried England through the knockout rounds, with Declan Rice screening in front of the back four and Jude Bellingham floating between the lines. It worked from the opening whistle. England pressed the Dutch build-up in patterns and forced Frenkie de Jong into a series of tidy but ultimately sideways passes. The opener came from exactly the pattern Ronald Koeman would have identified in film review: Bukayo Saka isolated Nathan Akรฉ down England's right, drew a foul on a nutmeg attempt, and from the resulting set-piece routine Bellingham peeled off the back post to head Trippier's outswinger past Bart Verbruggen. Twenty-seventh minute, one-nil England.
Netherlands push back
The Dutch did what the Dutch always do โ they held the ball, moved it, waited. For twenty minutes after the goal they looked like they were being lulled by England's mid-block. Then the pressing shape shifted. Xavi Simons drifted into pockets between Rice and Kobbie Mainoo, and de Jong began stepping into the England half instead of receiving in front of it.
The equaliser was a Dutch penalty, and a soft one. Sixty-first minute, Depay danced across a challenge from Marc Guรฉhi in the box and went down. VAR checked, the referee stuck with the on-field call, and Depay stepped up himself to send Jordan Pickford the wrong way. One-one, a game that had been drifting on England's terms was suddenly a knife fight for a place in a World Cup final.
The Foden moment
Everyone in the ground could feel extra time coming. Tuchel had already brought on Cole Palmer for Kane and Anthony Gordon for Saka. Both changes were about legs and pace, not tactics; the shape held. And it was Palmer, actually, who cost the Netherlands the game โ a checked run into the left half-space that pulled Denzel Dumfries out of position, opening the lane for Foden to receive from Rice, take one touch to steady, and bend a right-footed curler across Verbruggen into the far corner.
Foden's tournament to that point had been muted. Two goals across the group stage, a quiet round of 16, a good but unmemorable quarter-final. He needed a moment on a stage like this to reset the narrative, and the 88th minute of a World Cup semifinal is a stage. He wheeled to the corner, arms wide, and did not celebrate with anybody โ he just stared into the England section.
Netherlands' four minutes
Four minutes of added time and one Dutch corner is all it came down to. Van Dijk went up. Pickford came out. The header cleared the bar by a foot. Full time. England players sank to their knees. Ronald Koeman shook Tuchel's hand at halfway with the flat expression of a man who watched his side create enough to have won and simply didn't.
What the numbers said
Possession finished 54-46 to the Netherlands. Expected goals: England 1.4, Netherlands 1.6. Shots on target were level at four apiece. It was, statistically, a coin-flip of a match โ the exact kind of semifinal the Dutch have historically been on the wrong end of, and the exact kind England used to lose. Two things flipped this one:
- Set pieces. Bellingham's opener was England's fifth goal from a dead ball this tournament โ the most of any semifinalist.
- Kickers of individual moments. Foden's 88th-minute strike was the only shot from open play in the entire match that hit the corner of a net.
Who England play in the final
The winner of Wednesday's Semifinal 2 in Atlanta between Spain and Norway. Kick-off is 3 p.m. ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The final itself is Sunday July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 3 p.m. ET. England reach a men's World Cup final for the second time in their history and the first since Wembley in 1966; whichever way the trophy goes on Sunday, this is a landmark moment for English football.
FAQ
Is this England's first World Cup final in 60 years? Yes โ the men's team has not appeared in the final since winning it at Wembley in 1966. The women's team reached the 2023 World Cup final and lost to Spain.
Who scored the goals? Jude Bellingham (27', header from a Kieran Trippier corner), Memphis Depay (61', penalty), Phil Foden (88', curled right-foot finish from the edge of the box).
What was the attendance? A capacity 82,500 at AT&T Stadium, split roughly two-thirds England to one-third Netherlands, with a large neutral American contingent.
When is the third-place playoff? Saturday July 18 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, kick-off 3 p.m. ET. Netherlands will face the loser of Wednesday's Spain vs Norway semifinal.
Follow live scores from Semifinal 2 on Scorelisto's soccer page, or head to the Scorelisto blog for the preview and recap of the second semi.