ATLANTA (AP) — England and Argentina made key changes for their World Cup semifinal in Atlanta on Wednesday.
England coach Thomas Tuchel called in Morgan Rogers in place of Noni Madueke on the right wing and also handed starts to Reece James and Djed Spence in defense.
Ezri Konsa and Nico O’Reilly were benched.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni made just one change, picking Gio Simeone in midfield ahead of Rodrigo De Paul.
England: Jordan Pickford; Reece James, John Stones, Marc Guehi, Djed Spence; Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham; Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane.
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico; Gio Simeone, Leandro Paredes, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister; Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez.
The game sees England and Argentina resume one of the fiercest rivalries in international soccer.
The two teams meet in Atlanta and the winner will play Spain in the final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday.
“I mean the two shirts are just iconic and the historic matches are iconic,” Tuchel said.
The World Cup rivalry between the nations dates back to 1962, but it was England's 1-0 win in the quarterfinals four years later that saw it intensify. Argentina captain Antonio Rattin, whose death was announced on Saturday, was sent off in a bad-tempered match. England went on to win the World Cup for the first, and still the only time, in its history.
Twenty years on in Mexico, Diego Maradona scored the infamous “Hand of God” goal that helped Argentina to a 2-1 win in the quarterfinals on the way to becoming world champion for a second time.
That game also saw Maradona score what many believe to be the greatest World Cup goal ever when he dribbled the ball from the halfway line before beating England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
“That will be forever in our hearts. It was just such a beautiful goal,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “Anybody who loves football will remember that in the best way possible.”
England felt aggrieved again in 1998 when David Beckham was sent off for kicking out at Argentina midfielder Diego Simeone before losing the round-of-16 game on penalties.
Beckham got his revenge four years later by scoring a penalty in a 1-0 win that contributed to Argentina being eliminated at the group stage.
Given the heated rivalry, Tuchel has tried to manage the emotions of his players ahead of the semifinal.
“If a fixture provides so many iconic moments you cannot just say it’s just another football match, but as a coach we do exactly that,” he said. “We don’t speak about the historic events. We don’t speak about the iconic moments.”
Neither team has had a smooth ride to the semifinals.
Argentina survived scares against Cape Verde and Egypt earlier in the knockout rounds and needed extra time to beat 10-man Switzerland 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
England had to rally for wins against Congo and Norway after going a goal down. It also endured a physically exhausting game played at altitude, and being down to 10 men, to beat co-host Mexico 3-2 in the round of 16.
The seemingly ageless Lionel Messi has been Argentina's talisman once again, scoring eight goals and also providing crucial assists.
England has relied on its big hitters in Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. Both have six goals so far, with Bellingham scoring twice in each of England's last two games.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
Harry Kane celebrares England's victory over Norway after their World Cup quarterfinal soccer match in Miami Gardens, Fla., Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
England's Jude Bellingham (10) celebrates scoring his side's 2nd goal during the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Norway and England in Miami Gardens, Fla., Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) celebrates scoring their second goal during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Argentina and Egypt in Atlanta, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo)
PARIS (AP) — France’s National Assembly gave final approval Wednesday to a bill allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication, the culmination of years of debate over end-of-life care.
The lower house of parliament approved the measure in a 291-241 vote, after backing it in three previous readings, completing parliament’s work on the legislation announced by French President Emmanuel Macron more than three years ago.
“In 2022, I committed to opening this path with the French people.” Macron said in a message posted on X. "With seriousness, with humility, and with full respect for our democracy, that commitment has been fulfilled.”
According to various estimates, assisted dying is available to around 300 million people worldwide, with euthanasia legal under certain conditions in some countries and assisted suicide allowed in others and in several U.S. states. France has an increasingly aging population, with growing numbers of patients in the country who require care for chronic illnesses.
France, a traditionally Catholic nation, has grappled with legal, medical, moral and religious questions about end-of-life options, including existing legislation that allows doctors to keep terminally ill patients sedated before death, but stops short of allowing assisted suicide and euthanasia.
“The national representation has risen to the occasion during these debates. This has been the longest debate since the 1980s,” said Yael Braun-Pivet, the president of the National Assembly.
Many French people have traveled to neighboring countries where medically assisted suicide or euthanasia are legal. Medically assisted suicide generally involves a patient voluntarily taking lethal medication prescribed by a doctor. Euthanasia involves a doctor or other health care professional administering a lethal injection at the patient’s request.
End-of-life options are also being debated in the United Kingdom. A bill to legalize assisted dying in England and Wales will formally return to Parliament on Sept. 11, five months after it ran out of time in Parliament’s last session.
The proposed measure in France primarily provides for medically assisted suicide, by allowing patients to receive and self-administer lethal medication under strict conditions. Only people whose physical condition prevents them from doing so would be allowed to receive assistance from a doctor or a nurse.
Patients seeking to end their lives would have to be at least 18 years old and either French citizens or legal residents of France.
A doctor would first have to consult a team of health care professionals and then confirm that the patient has a serious and incurable illness that is life-threatening. The patient must be in an advanced or terminal stage, experiencing pain that can't be relieved or is unbearable, and seeking lethal medication of their own free will.
Lawmakers specified that psychological suffering alone wouldn't qualify a person for medically assisted dying.
People with severe psychiatric disorders or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s wouldn't be eligible.
Patients would initiate the request, to be reviewed by health professionals within 15 days, and then confirm it after a period of reflection lasting at least two days.
If approved, they could take the lethal medication at the time and in the place of their choice, including at home or in a health care facility, in the presence of their loved ones if they wish.
On the chosen date, the doctor or nurse would have to verify that the person still wishes to proceed and remain nearby to intervene if complications arise.
France’s national health insurance system would cover all associated costs.
A 2023 report found that most French people are in favor of legalizing end-of-life options, and opinion polls have shown support increasing over the past two decades.
The Association for the Right to Die With Dignity said that the law would allow people “to choose to end unbearable suffering, freely and with full awareness.” Its president, Jonathan Denis, said in a statement that “a law that creates a new right never forces anyone to exercise it. It does, however, ensure that every person … can remain at the heart of medical decisions that concern them and have their wishes respected.”
Opponents argue the measure could put pressure on older people and those living with illness or disabilities.
In an open letter to Macron, the anti-euthanasia group Alliance Vita said that “every effort must be made to ensure that people who are suffering have immediate access to palliative care and support. Presenting death as a desirable solution can never be an acceptable response to suffering and is contrary to human dignity.”
The Senate, the upper house where conservatives hold a majority, rejected the bill. But under France’s legislative process, the National Assembly has the final say when the two houses of parliament disagree.
Senate President Gérard Larcher and Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that they would refer the bill to the Constitutional Council, which will have up to a month to determine whether it complies with the Constitution. The law will only take effect once that review has been completed.
“Extensive debates have taken place in the National Assembly on this bill. However, discussions in the Senate did not allow for such an in-depth examination, in order to produce legislation that addresses both the aspirations of its supporters and the concerns of those who are worried about how it will be implemented,” Lecornu said.
In the U.K., opponents of the bill to legalize assisted dying prevented it from passing in the House of Lords, the upper house, by filing more than 1,200 amendments on a range of concerns, including potential coercion of vulnerable people and a lack of safeguards for those with disabilities.
That was in April, after elected representatives in the House of Commons passed it.
The bill that is expected to be presented again proposes allowing adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel. One aim is so people no longer go to other countries, such as Switzerland, for an assisted death.
In Germany, parliament’s lower house, the Bundestag, in 2023 considered two proposals to regulate assisted dying and rejected both of them.
John Leicester in Paris, Pan Pylas in London and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
The French National Assembly is draped with the artwork "Marianne rêve" ("Marianne Dreams") by French street artist Seth, depicting Marianne the symbol of the French Republic, before lawmakers vote later on final approval of a bill allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication, in Paris, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his speech on the end-of-life options, April 3, 2023, at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, Pool, File)
FILE - The National Assembly is seen, Jan. 13, 2026, in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva, File)
