The National Times - Tuchel unfazed by history ahead of England v Argentina World Cup semi

The Three Lions have been led at the 2026 tournament by Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, who have each scored six goals.

Remarkably, it will be the first time Lionel Messi has faced England at the grand old age of 39 despite the historical significance of the fixture.

Former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich boss Tuchel said he did not feel extra pressure as he spoke to reporters in Atlanta on Tuesday.

"I don't feel a burden. We feel the tension and will be nervous but that is normal," he said.

"What I like is that I feel the players are really competitive, hungry and excited to play this match.

"The two shirts are just iconic. There are historic matches, iconic moments and everyone recognises the shirts and players straight away."

The nations have previously clashed five times at World Cups, most notably the 1986 quarter-final when Diego Maradona scored his infamous "Hand of God" goal in a 2-1 win.

Twelve years later Argentina won on penalties after David Beckham was sent off.

"I think the players of both countries are very aware of what it means to them -– if a fixture provides so many iconic moments, then you cannot say it is just another football match, but as a coach we do exactly that, focus on what we can influence."

The German said he would not use the rivalry between the two teams as "fuel" to fire his men.

- 'Hungry' -

"We know why we are here, we know what we want, we were never shy of expecting that from ourselves, and of saying it or of dreaming it," he added. "We are in the semi-finals, and we arrive very hungry."

The England boss said his whole squad trained on the eve of the game and that Declan Rice was fit to play following illness. Jarell Quansah is suspended.

Tuchel explained that he had "no words" to describe magical Messi, who has scored eight goals so far to take his team to the semi-finals.

"You can see the cohesion, you can see that they are experienced in tournament football," he said.

"They have the same core group of players who have been together a long time, and they have a very experienced and very, very good head coach.

"We know how big the obstacle is but we are ready for it."

Argentina have laboured to get to the last four, although England's path through the knockout rounds has not been smooth either, with tough matches against DR Congo, Mexico and Norway.

"It is just my first World Cup as a coach and it is very rare that you fly through a tournament and everything falls into place from match to match," Tuchel said.

"We will prepare for the best version of Argentina -- we expect and demand the best of ourselves.

"We have not peaked yet but tomorrow's match will bring the best out of us and we are excited."

Lewis--TNT