‘You can’t stop him!’ - Lionel Messi’s former team-mate warns England they face impossible task when tackling Argentina in World Cup semi-final

Federico Fernandez, a former Argentina team-mate of the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, has delivered a chilling verdict for Thomas Tuchel’s side. Despite the tactical preparations taking place in the England camp, Fernandez insists that 20 years of football history prove that individual plans to nullify the 39-year-old usually end in failure.

Speaking on the challenge of facing the tournament's leading scorer, Fernandez told talkSPORT: "You can’t stop him. This question has been asked for the last 20 years. People will always find a way to get possession of the ball, whether that’s dropping deep, or moving more to the side. People just need a good pass and control to make the difference. Even if you put a player on him specifically. Everyone has tried everything against him over the years. I would always ask the coach to try and put us on the same teams so I didn’t have to mark him [in training]."

While the warning from the former Newcastle defender is stark, Tuchel remains confident that his tactical setup can provide the answer. The German coach is buoyed by England's defensive performance in the previous round, where they successfully limited the impact of another global superstar.

"It’s incredible how he just pulls it off every single time - in so many different ways," Tuchel admitted. "He finds spaces, he finds moments and the big thing is the whole team buys into that idea. We must be brave around him and just stop the support. He’s a different player from Erling Haaland but we did well against Erling, so we’ll find a way now."

While Messi has scored eight goals in the tournament so far, England captain Harry Kane is adamant that focusing solely on the former Barcelona and PSG superstar would be a mistake for the Three Lions.

Kane stated: "He’s been one of, if not the best, player in the world for almost 20 years. Everyone knows how dangerous it can be. But we play Argentina - not against Messi. We come up against a great unit, a great team with fantastic players. As much as it will be built up around Messi and the big players, we know it’s more than that."

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has echoed his captain's sentiments, urging the squad to trust in their own resilience rather than being overawed by the occasion. England have leaned heavily on the goalscoring prowess of Kane and Jude Bellingham, who have accounted for 12 of the team's 13 goals this summer, but Pickford believes the defensive unit is ready for whatever the reigning world champions throw at them.

"Everyone will talk about Messi because he's one of the GOATs of the game," Pickford said. "But you can't look past the ability and the talent we've got in this squad - going forward, defensively, and our togetherness.

"We've got it all there and that's what we need to put on show on Wednesday. We're ready for anything, and it's us against them and it's about who comes out on top. We're fully prepared for that."