**Declan Rice and Arsenal’s leading summer target Morgan Rogers both started for England in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final against Argentina, with the two sides goalless at half-time in Atlanta.**
According to live coverage from Sky Sports and FIFA’s official match centre, Rice lined up in a double pivot alongside Elliot Anderson, while Rogers started in England’s attacking three just behind Harry Kane at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Aston Villa forward’s involvement carries extra interest for Arsenal supporters given his club’s continued pursuit of the 23-year-old this summer.
Messi And Alvarez Give Argentina’s Attack Its Edge
--------------------------------------------------
Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez started together for Argentina, who were unable to find a way past an England defence marshalled by John Stones and Marc Guehi in a physical opening 45 minutes. Live coverage from Sky Sports and ESPN pointed to Stones’ header from a free-kick, which drifted just wide, as the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock.
The winner will face Spain in Sunday’s final after the tournament favourites beat France 2-0 in Tuesday’s opening semi-final. Rice arrives at the game off the back of an Arsenal season that delivered the club’s first Premier League title in 22 years, having [been confirmed fit to start](https://readarsenal.com/2026/07/15/declan-rice-fit-england-argentina-world-cup-semi-final/) earlier this week.
For Arsenal, a big semi-final stage for Rogers is unlikely to cool interest in a player [Aston Villa are currently valuing at around £130million](https://readarsenal.com/2026/07/15/arsenal-transfer-notebook-rogers-kepa/), with Mikel Arteta still working to bring in a new attacker before pre-season begins in earnest.