What was on it? The national team's trick to check Pickford's bottle | OneFootball

The dramatic 2-1 victory over England in the 2026 World Cup semifinal left one of the most curious and viral images of the match on social media. Cameras captured the exact moment when several Argentina national team players quietly approached to inspect British goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s water bottle ahead of a possible penalty shootout.

The English keeper is world-famous for sticking cheat sheets and reminder notes on his bottles showing the sides chosen by opposing takers when shooting from the spot. Aware of this strategic detail and with the match tied in the final minutes, the players of the Scaloneta decided to get ahead of the play and examine the bottle to decipher the information Pickford was jealously guarding.

Fortunately for the reigning world champions, a miraculous header by Lautaro Martínez in the 47th minute of the second half sealed direct qualification without the need to go to a penalty shootout. In any case, the quick thinking of the Argentine players showed that the squad paid attention to absolutely every detail to secure their place in Sunday’s grand final against Spain.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.