Paul Scholes makes 'chaotic' England vs Argentina prediction | OneFootball

Three Lions face stern test against world champions, who have a “big advantage”

Paul Scholes believes England's World Cup semi-final against Argentina will descend into “chaos”, and hopes it is Spain lying in wait in the final.

Thomas Tuchel's side face the reigning world champions on Wednesday for a place in Sunday's final, with either France or Spain awaiting the winners after Tuesday's first semi-final.

England's route to the last four has been far from straightforward. They opened the tournament with an impressive victory over Croatia before delivering less convincing performances against Ghana and Panama in the group stage.

Their knockout campaign has required resilience as much as quality. England recovered from behind to overcome DR Congo before producing one of their standout displays of the tournament to defeat co-hosts Mexico at the Azteca Stadium. A tense quarter-final against Norway was decided in extra time thanks to another brace from Jude Bellingham.

Argentina's campaign has followed a similar pattern. Lionel Scaloni's side progressed through Group J with a perfect record and initially looked among the tournament's strongest teams. Since then, however, the defending champions have faced significant tests, needing extra time to beat Cape Verde before recovering from a two-goal deficit to eliminate Egypt.

Paul Scholes

The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast

Although Argentina defeated Switzerland 3-1 in the quarter-finals, the scoreline masked a contest that swung decisively only after the Swiss were reduced to 10 players.

Former England midfielder Scholes believes that neither side had consistently reached top form but feels that England possess the stronger squad overall.

“I think the path for England and Argentina have been very similar,” Scholes said his ‘The Good, The Bad & The Football’ podcast. “I don’t think either team has played that well but they’ve got through games.

“The biggest advantage for Argentina is that they’ve done it before and they know how to win these big games in tournaments. We’re yet to prove that.

“This will be lively, this will be chaos. This could be 4-3 either way, there will be yellow and red cards. If Argentina lose they’ll all kick off, that’s absolutely guaranteed. And if you lose to them it’s horrible.

We can beat Argentina and Spain but I’m not sure we can beat France, we need Spain to beat France

Paul Scholes

“I think we can beat Argentina and Spain but I’m not sure we can beat France. I think we need Spain to beat France.”

Scholes believes Argentina's recent tournament success gives them a slight edge but expects an evenly balanced contest.

“I think our semi-final is 50-50, a flip of a coin. Maybe Argentina are just favourites because of the experience but I prefer our squad of players, that’s even taking into account Lionel Messi.

“I’m going 4-3 to England. It will be chaos – there will be red cards and everything, it will all be going off.”