England faces defending champion Argentina for a spot in the World Cup final, in photos

ATLANTA (AP) — One of international soccer’s biggest rivalries returns to the World Cup when England faces defending champion Argentina on Wednesday in the semifinals in Atlanta. Argentina will be led by Lionel Messi, one of the greatest to ever play the game, while England will rely on both Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane. Both teams made changes to their starting lineups for Wednesday's match. The winner will face Spain in Sunday’s final, while the loser plays France on Saturday in the third-place match.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) and England's Harry Kane (9) hug after the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

Argentina's Lautaro Martinez hugs teammate Lionel Messi celebrating after scoring their side's second goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Argentina's Lautaro Martinez (22) scores their second goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Argentina's Enzo Fernandez celebrates with Lionel Messi, right, after scoring his side's first goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Argentina's Lautaro Martinez (22), right, hugs a teammate at the end of the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates after teammate Lautaro Martinez scored their side's second goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

England's Harry Kane (9) reacts after the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) reacts after their win in the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford eyes the ball during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Argentina's Julian Alvarez (9) and Lionel Messi (10) celebrate after a goal scored by teammate Enzo Fernandez during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Argentina's Enzo Fernandez celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (1) fails to stop a shot by Argentina's Enzo Fernandez (24) as he scores his side's first goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (1), John Stones (5) and Marc Guehi (6) react during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

England's Anthony Gordon (18) celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

England's Anthony Gordon (18) scores their opening goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

England's Anthony Gordon (18) celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Argentina's Enzo Fernandez and England's Elliot Anderson (8) fall to the pitch as they battle for the ball during the World Cup semifinal soccer match in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Former England soccer player David Beckham, right, stands before the start of the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)

Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) falls during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Referee Ismail Elfath, of the United States, separates players as he issues a yellow card to England's Elliot Anderson during the World Cup semifinal soccer match against Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Argentina's Nahuel Molina (26) challenges for the ball with England's Anthony Gordon (18) during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Players argue during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

Argentina's Lionel Messi controls the ball next to England's Elliot Anderson during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A supporter cheers with the banner depicting Argentina's Lionel Messi before the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

England's Reece James (24) battles for the ball with Argentina's Nicolas Tagliafico (3) during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)

England's Jude Bellingham, top, and Argentina's Enzo Fernández collide during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

England's Jude Bellingham (10) challenges for the ball with Argentina's Nahuel Molina (26) during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

A fan takes a selfie before the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

England's Jude Bellingham (10) and Argentina's Leandro Paredes (5) confront each other during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Referee Ismail Elfath, of the United States, shows a yellow card to Argentina's Lisandro Martinez, between England's Harry Kane, left, and Argentina's Lionel Messi, right, during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

England's Jude Bellingham (10) shoots on goal during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

England's Jude Bellingham (10) challenges for the ball with Argentina's Nahuel Molina (26) during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

England and Argentina stand before the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

England's Harry Kane, right, vies for the ball with Argentina's Lionel Messi during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confronted skeptical questioning at a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday about the creation of a fund to compensate President Donald Trump's allies and a tax immunity deal for the president as he aimed to lock down the Republican support needed to advance his nomination.

Blanche insisted that the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” which was scrapped after fierce bipartisan backlash, was “not moving forward.” But lawmakers, including Republican Sen. John Cornyn, conveyed concerns that the Trump administration has yet to commit in writing that the fund is dead and could therefore conceivably be resurrected.

“Just to be clear, the president of the United States, who's a plaintiff in this lawsuit, has not agreed in writing to delete the ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ and there’s no guarantee that he won’t raise it in the future?” Cornyn asked. Blanche replied that Trump has no power over the fund, which was to have been administered by the Justice Department but never launched.

Cornyn's questions were closely watched since Blanche requires the backing of all Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and the Texas senator has not committed his support.

The hearing arrived at a tumultuous time for the Justice Department, with mass firings and resignations hollowing out the workforce and Democrats and other critics raising alarms that Blanche is still functioning as the president's personal lawyer. He has led the department on an interim basis since April, functioning as the public face of the maligned and later-withdrawn fund and accelerating investigations into perceived Trump adversaries.

Even as he said the fund had been shelved, he made clear that immunity from tax audits afforded to Trump this year remained in place.

Those actions, plus the flawed release of files from the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation, received fresh scrutiny Wednesday.

“You’re in charge of a Department of Justice I don’t recognize, prosecuting the president’s political enemies, firing rank and file prosecutors and FBI agents,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware told Blanche. “These are some actions that in your previous confirmation hearing before us, you said you would not take.”

Blanche, for his part, insisted he has presided over a course correction following Justice Department investigations into Trump during the Biden administration.

“In recent years, we watched the Justice Department turned against many of you and a former president, and it damaged the public’s faith in justice,” Blanche argued. “We are fixing that."

Key to Blanche's confirmation are Cornyn of Texas, who in May lost his primary, and Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who has opted not to seek reelection. Entering the final stretches of their Senate career, both are seen as more likely than before to split from Trump and both have been outspoken critics of the fund the Trump administration created to compensate people who feel unjustly persecuted by the criminal justice system.

After questioning Blanche about the fund, Cornyn told CNN he continues “to have some concerns” and is not “going to make any decisions at this point.” Tillis, meanwhile, indicated during questioning that he is likely to support Blanche, even as he said he wanted “to stick a fork in this turkey of a 1776 fund."

The death of South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was a member of the committee, level 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats on the panel. A no-vote by even a single Republican on the committee could scuttle his nomination.

The fund emerged from a settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns. Blanche had initially defended the initiative only to later reveal that it was being scrapped following fierce bipartisan backlash.

The judge who presided over the case said in a scathing ruling Monday that Trump and his lawyers had manipulated the court system through the lawsuit and subsequent settlement and said she was troubled Blanche had signed the settlement given his prior representation of Trump and was concerned he had given misleading testimony. Blanche said Wednesday that he disagreed “with the judge's insinuations about me.”

Blanche also defended a separate element of the settlement that afforded Trump and members of his family protection from tax audits and that, he has said, remains on track despite outrage over it even from Republicans. Blanche said the deal covers any existing audits but does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.

“Nobody is above the law,” Blanche said. Such a settlement "doesn’t make any of those individuals above the law.”

Blanche was also pressed on the department's staggered release of the Epstein files, a process beset by problems, including redaction errors that left exposed nude photos showing the faces of potential victims. Some names, email addresses and other identifying information were either unredacted or not fully obscured.

During a lengthy podcast interview with Joe Rogan released Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance said the administration “absolutely” mishandled the communications surrounding the Epstein files and its contents, including when then-Attorney General Pam Bondi distributed binders of Epstein documents at the White House to far-right influencers that turned out to contain already-public material.

Blanche acknowledged that “mistakes were made" in the release process but nonetheless defended the work.

“I want to make sure that the American people know that this administration, when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, has been more transparent than any administration,” he said, although the Justice Department only released additional files after Trump bowed to bipartisan pressure to sign a law forcing the department to do so.

A former federal prosecutor and key member of Trump's defense team as the Republican battled four indictments, Blanche arrived at the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. At one point, under friendly questioning from Republican Sen. John Kennedy about whether he and Trump are friends, Blanche responded: “I’m his lawyer,” before quickly correcting himself to say he “was his lawyer.”

He ascended to the top job in April after Trump ousted Bondi, who had frustrated the White House by struggling to bring successful cases against Trump's political opponents. Blanche has tried to satisfy Trump in that regard, including with an indictment of ex-FBI Director James Comey, another Trump adversary, on charges of threatening the 47th president by posting a social media photograph of seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47.”

Comey has said the numbers were not a call to violence.

Tillis, who has said he would not support for attorney general anyone who equivocates on the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, denounced the Biden administration Justice Department for what he said were excessive prosecutions and punishments.

Democrats, meanwhile, pressed Blanche on the violence and Trump’s sweeping clemency action benefiting more than 1,500 people, including those convicted of violently attacking police.

Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse criticized Blanche for comments at a political conference this year where he appeared to characterize the Jan. 6 pardons as an administration accomplishment. Blanche replied that he has “never said that any sort of violence against law enforcement is appropriate.”

“He has the absolute right to pardon anybody for any reason he sees fit,” Blanche said of the president. “I am not celebrating that. It is a fact.”

Associated Press writers Meg Kinnard and Michael Kunzelman contributed to this report.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)