Live updates: Argentina defeats England in semifinal, advances to play Spain in World Cup Final

Defending champion Argentina rallied to beat England 2-1 on Wednesday and reach the World Cup final.

Trailing 1-0 going into the last five minutes of regulation time, Enzo Fernandez and substitute Lautaro Martinez scored for Argentina.

Anthony Gordon had given England the lead, but Lionel Messi and Co. had other ideas.

Argentina pushed for an equalizer and the pressure eventually led to Fernandez scoring in the 85th minute. Martinez headed in the winner two minutes into injury time.

Argentina will play Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Houston's FIFA Fan Festival organizers say the event is set to open half an hour later than planned due to Wednesday's weather conditions.

In their social media page, they said the festival is set to open at 1 p.m. after being scheduled to open at 12:30 p.m. ahead of the England vs. Argentina game.

Wednesday's match is set to kick off at 2 p.m. CT.

The 2026 World Cup comes to an end this weekend, with Spain taking on either England or Argentina.

Houston is done hosting our seven matches. And now, we're finally getting our first hard numbers, showing just how many people came to our city for the World Cup, but results seem to be mixed.

"The Netherlands for sure, it was a big crowd," said Rico Fernandino, an assistant manager of The Pit Room, a BBQ restaurant with locations in Montrose and the Memorial area.

The famous Dutch orange bus stopped at the restaurant, and the owner said, fans drank this place out of another iconic Dutch export: Heineken.

According to the owner, both The Pit Room and another he owns, the Tex-Mex Cadente, saw a 30 to 50% increase in sales this year compared to last year, with tourists excited to try our local flavor.

"People just wanted to see the big rib just to take a picture of it, but once they saw it, they ended up buying a whole big rib for themselves," said Fernandino.

We haven't heard the same excitement from all restaurants, though.

The owners of Koffeteria bakery and café in EADO say sales are way down due to road closures and traffic around the Fan Festival.

Results are also mixed when it comes to hotels.

Houston First Corporation, which uses both taxpayer funds and private donations to market our city, released numbers Tuesday from the first two weeks of the World Cup.

It turns out fewer people than usual stayed in Houston hotels, but those who did paid more.

According to Houston First, hotel occupancy in Houston was down nearly 2% in June compared to last year.

The average daily rate for hotels, though, was up 16%

Occupancy at short-term rentals, like Airbnbs, was also down 2%, while prices were up nearly 40%.

"When you have Super Bowl or Final Four, usually the day after they announce, you have no rooms to sell. In this, we were not even close to that." Explained Emre Ozsut, the Regional Director of Sales at The Lancaster Hotel downtown.

Ozsut said the World Cup brought fewer guests than he expected and an obsession he didn't see coming.

"Everyone ordered a side of ranch, and at one point, our chef was like, 'What is going on? Why is everyone ordering a side of ranch?' I guess it was their first time trying it, and they really enjoyed it. And Texas beer was very popular. Everybody was asking for it, especially guests from Holland; they were big fans of the Shiner," he said.

Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the penalty spot after a heady play by teenager Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro added another goal and Spain advanced to its first World Cup final since winning in 2010 with a 2-0 victory over France on Tuesday.

A day after his 19th birthday, Yamal was denied a goal on a close offside call that came soon after Porro's give-and-go with Dani Olmo in the 58th minute had put Spain up 2-0. But it was Yamal's smart play against a veteran defender that put Spain in the lead.

Spain will face either defending champion Argentina or England on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey. They face each other on Wednesday in Atlanta.

Kylian Mbappé and France, FIFA's top-ranked team, were trying to become only the third team to reach three consecutive World Cup finals. They instead will play in the third-place game in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday, the day before the final at MetLife Stadium across the river from New York City.

This win on soccer's biggest stage marked the third summer in a row that Spain beat France in a tournament semifinal match. Yamal scored in a 2-1 win in the 2024 European Championship semifinals just days before his 17th birthday, and La Roja won 5-4 in Nations League play last year.

After a quarterfinal win over Belgium last Friday, Yamal said he believed France should fear Spain. Those words certainly proved true.

Oyarzabal's penalty kick in the 22nd minute came after Yamal drew a foul when kicked by defender Lucas Digne.

After a poor first touch with his head, Digne was trying to clear the ball when Yamal raced in from behind to challenge in the penalty area. The ball hit off the elbow of the leaping teen before he was kicked by Digne, playing in his 63rd game for France only six days before his 33rd birthday.

Oyarzabal's fifth goal of this year's World Cup marked the first time either team has trailed in their seven games in this tournament. It was his 30th goal in 60 international games for Spain.