{"id":18481,"date":"2026-07-18T10:52:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T10:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=18481"},"modified":"2026-07-18T10:52:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T10:52:41","slug":"enzo-fernandez-shows-real-quality-for-argentina-but-chelsea-future-is-up-in-the-air-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=18481","title":{"rendered":"Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez shows real quality for Argentina but Chelsea future is up in the air | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\"><span style=\"color:var(--drop-cap);font-weight:700\" class=\"dcr-1iwzucl\">E<\/span>nzo Fern\u00e1ndez was an unstoppable mix of style and spite during Argentina\u2019s win over England. The midfielder\u2019s first contribution during Wednesday\u2019s semi-final in Atlanta was to plough into Elliot Anderson and clobber Manchester City\u2019s new \u00a3116m signing round the head. He escaped without a booking, though, and made the most of some generous refereeing by showing the other side to his game when Argentina took control after going 1-0 down early in the second half.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Much has already been said about England\u2019s attempt to hold on to their lead. A particular frustration for fans who watch the Premier League every week was that not enough was done to disrupt Fern\u00e1ndez. The Chelsea midfielder is a wonderful player in possession but can struggle when opponents run past him. That weakness has caused structural issues for Chelsea and will be a factor if they decide to sell the Argentinian this summer. Against England, though, Fern\u00e1ndez was given space to do as he pleased during the second half. He pulled the strings next to Alexis Mac Allister and proved his big-game mentality by scoring the equaliser with a bending shot from 25 yards in the 85th minute.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"f93304ef-4ad2-4bbb-ad26-6f83f265826f\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-1oq85qr\"><gu-island name=\"RichLinkComponent\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"idle\" props=\"{&quot;richLinkIndex&quot;:2,&quot;element&quot;:{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement&quot;,&quot;prefix&quot;:&quot;Related: &quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Unbeatables v untouchables? Spain\u2019s run faces ultimate test in World Cup final&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;f93304ef-4ad2-4bbb-ad26-6f83f265826f&quot;,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;richLink&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2026\/jul\/17\/unbeatables-v-untouchables-spains-run-faces-ultimate-test-in-world-cup-final&quot;},&quot;ajaxUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/api.nextgen.guardianapps.co.uk&quot;,&quot;format&quot;:{&quot;design&quot;:10,&quot;display&quot;:0,&quot;theme&quot;:2}}\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Fern\u00e1ndez had clearly spotted a weakness in the England goal. He shot four times from long range and his final effort caught Jordan Pickford out. England never reacted to the danger. They stopped making Fern\u00e1ndez look the other way. The statistics show Fern\u00e1ndez won only three of his nine ground duels during the game. On the other hand he had more touches than anyone else on the pitch (104) and had a 98% pass completion rate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Fern\u00e1ndez enjoyed it. On his Instagram stories he posted a picture of himself laughing with Lionel Messi and Leandro Paredes at Argentina\u2019s training ground and used Wonderwall as the soundtrack. It will probably not endear Fern\u00e1ndez to English crowds but he is unlikely to care. In case you haven\u2019t noticed, he is pretty intrigued by the idea of living in Spain. There was a clash with Chelsea at the end of last season, resulting in the club banning Fern\u00e1ndez for two games, and it will be interesting to see if the 25-year-old has done enough at the World Cup to convince Real Madrid to push for his signature.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">From a scouting perspective, Fern\u00e1ndez could not have picked a better country to play against in Sunday\u2019s final. Madrid, who have already signed Marc Cucurella from Chelsea this summer, will surely take note if Fern\u00e1ndez stars against Spain. Jos\u00e9 Mourinho needs additions in midfield, which is where Madrid have suffered most in recent years. Luka Modric and Toni Kroos exiting left a creative vacuum and, although Madrid took the surprising step of issuing a public denial of any interest in Fern\u00e1ndez this month, there are suggestions that they remain interested in signing the Argentinian.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Chelsea\u2019s asking price of \u00a3120m is too high. There is also an argument that Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s displays on the international stage should make Chelsea think twice about agreeing to a sale if Madrid come calling. Xabi Alonso, the latest manager looking to usher in a sense of order at Stamford Bridge, needs fighters. Fern\u00e1ndez has not always covered himself in glory but it is worth noting that he has experienced chaos with his club and stability with his country. He looks more at ease in an Argentina shirt. He has emerged as a leader for his national side and could be the same for Alonso at Chelsea.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"d793cd44-bd0b-467e-90d0-66d7ce264047\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-d9bay7\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-174mzkf\"><span class=\"dcr-vyhg7z\"><svg width=\"18\" height=\"13\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 13\"><path d=\"M18 3.5v8l-1.5 1.5h-15l-1.5-1.5v-8l1.5-1.5h3.5l2-2h4l2 2h3.5l1.5 1.5zm-9 7.5c1.9 0 3.5-1.6 3.5-3.5s-1.6-3.5-3.5-3.5-3.5 1.6-3.5 3.5 1.6 3.5 3.5 3.5z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez scores Argentina\u2019s equaliser against England.<\/span> Photographer: Sebastian Widmann\/Fifa\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Fern\u00e1ndez is a clutch player. He has become an expert box crasher for Chelsea and scored 12 goals last season. Fern\u00e1ndez times his runs expertly and finishes well. He even offers a threat in the air, as Egypt discovered when he knocked them out in the last 16 with a beautiful header in added time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">That was one of many examples of the former Benfica midfielder producing for Argentina in crucial moments. It was similar when they won the 2022 World Cup, although the difference then was that Fern\u00e1ndez was not in the team at the start of the tournament. He was 21 and waited for Lionel Scaloni to give him a chance. It arrived with Argentina needing a win against Mexico in their second game. Fern\u00e1ndez was sent on with the deadlock yet to be broken in the 57th minute. Messi scored seven minutes later and Fern\u00e1ndez made it 2-0 with a lovely strike in the 87th minute.<\/p>\n<figure data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.NewsletterSignupBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-d9bay7\"><gu-island name=\"EmailSignUpWrapper\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"visible\" props=\"{&quot;index&quot;:10,&quot;listId&quot;:4163,&quot;identityName&quot;:&quot;the-fiver&quot;,&quot;category&quot;:&quot;article-based&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Football Daily&quot;,&quot;frequency&quot;:&quot;Every weekday&quot;,&quot;theme&quot;:&quot;sport&quot;,&quot;illustrationSquare&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/media.guim.co.uk\/3913a70a8b2e7b8d826d813515822b0b54952cdd\/0_0_3000_3000\/500.jpg&quot;,&quot;exampleUrl&quot;:&quot;\/football\/series\/footballdaily\/latest\/email&quot;,&quot;idApiUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/idapi.theguardian.com&quot;}\">skip past newsletter promotion<\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1ao0bwb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-12qa5gp\">\n<hr class=\"dcr-1cjdlyj\"\/>\n<aside aria-label=\"newsletter promotion\" class=\"dcr-11zfjs0\">\n<div class=\"dcr-pspq5\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1gx5ko4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-191vl9p\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewbox=\"-3 -3 30 30\" focusable=\"false\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M18.364 2H5.636v5.68H3.43L2 9.29l9.048 7.504h1.904L22 9.289 20.571 7.68h-2.207zm-1.819 5.68v-.946h-9.09v.946zm0-3.787h-9.09v.947h9.09zM2 20.58v-8.994l9.048 6.627h1.904L22 11.586v8.994L20.571 22H3.43zM7.455 9.574h9.09v.947h-9.09z\"\/><\/svg>Free newsletter | <!-- -->Every weekday<\/div>\n<p class=\"dcr-vf9hps\">Sign up to <span>Football Daily<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1r7my33\">Kick off your evenings with the Guardian&#8217;s take on the world of football<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/media.guim.co.uk\/3913a70a8b2e7b8d826d813515822b0b54952cdd\/0_0_3000_3000\/500.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"dcr-xiq31o\"\/><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"EmailSignup-skip-link-10\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"after newsletter promotion\" role=\"note\" class=\"dcr-76akua\">after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n<p><\/gu-island><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">There was no looking back. Fern\u00e1ndez became a fixture in midfield and was named young player of the tournament. He was catapulted into stardom and joined Chelsea for \u00a3106.7m a month after the World Cup final. It was not always easy. Fern\u00e1ndez was rightly pilloried for being filmed taking part in a racist chant about the France team after Argentina\u2019s triumph in the Copa Am\u00e9rica in 2024. Fences had to be mended with his Chelsea teammates that summer. Fern\u00e1ndez apologised for the incident in an interview last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Will it all be enough to earn Fern\u00e1ndez a spot in the same Bernab\u00e9u dressing room as Kylian Mbapp\u00e9? How he fares against the great Spanish midfield could have an impact. Fern\u00e1ndez has worked towards this moment. He has honed his physique during his time in England. He is the Argentina player with the most sprints and high-speed running. Rodri, Dani Olmo and Fabi\u00e1n Ruiz will pose a tougher test than Anderson and Declan Rice, though. Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s level will have to rise again if he is to become a world champion again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez was an unstoppable mix of style and spite during Argentina\u2019s win over England&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}