John Arne Riise believes England’s World Cup 2026 semi-final opponents Argentina are far from unbeatable, while Emile Heskey wants Thomas Tuchel’s team to play with Premier League ‘intensity’.
Former Liverpool and Fulham star Riise thinks Lionel Messi’s men remain vulnerable at the back ahead of the last-four clash in Atlanta on Wednesday night (8pm kick-off UK time).
Riise also thinks that Spain are the only side who have the beating of France this year, pointing to Pedri and Lamine Yamal as their key men ahead of Tuesday night’s semi-final (also 8pm).
Riise discussed the semi-finals in an exclusive chat with BestBettingSites, saying: “Spain look the strongest defensively right now.
“They look incredibly cohesive and together when they don’t have the ball.
“Argentina, by contrast, have looked far too open in a few games, conceding soft, easy goals.
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Closest challengers to France
“Spain look like the closest challengers capable of actually beating France at the moment.
“I think Pedri has been very good; he controls things well.
“Lamine Yamal hasn’t consistently performed at his absolute highest level yet, but he still produces these isolated moments where he’s just unbelievable.
“And then their striker – Mikel Oyarzabal – is scoring goals when needed.
“But Pedri is the one anchoring them nicely.”
Play the game, not the occasion
Former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, meanwhile, wants England stars not to let the occasion overcome them against Argentina.
He remembers the pressure David Beckham felt after his infamous red card against the Argentines, and is desperate something similar doesn’t happen again.
Heskey also thinks England are well capable of winning, and hopes they play to their usual Premier League intensity.
During an exclusive sitdown interview with 10bet, Heskey said of the Argentina game: “I think the main thing for those games is to play the game, not the occasion.
“Because you’ve got to remember, I played in the game that was the first one since David Beckham got sent off.
“So you can imagine the pressure on us going into that game – not just on us, but on him as well. The relief he had from scoring that goal; that penalty, you could see it in his face.
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Unbelievable game
“That was an unbelievable game to be part of England 1- 0 Argentina. Becks’ redemption.
“But you just have to play the game and don’t play the occasion.
“If we do that, we’ve got more than enough to beat them.
“We’re fantastic when we’re at our best. They’ve got some great players, don’t get me wrong, but I believe that we’ve got better.
“I think we’ve got more than enough to go up against them and knock them out.”
Messi is too elusive
Messi will be the main threat to England’s hopes of reaching the final – but Heskey added: “I think if England can play with that intensity – Premier League intensity – they have the ability to run over Argentina.
“Personally, I wouldn’t man-mark Messi, he’s too elusive and he’ll find a way or a moment – he has the intelligence to know when to make his runs or find a pocket of space.
“But I could completely understand it if the manager did decide to put someone like Declan Rice on him and ask him to do a job.”
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Liam McLaughlan 
Aidan Leo