Watch as Messi, Argentina players discover Jordan Pickford's penalty cheat sheet
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford's cheat sheet on Argentina player wasn't needed, but Argentina players got a look at it anyway.
ATLANTA — After England fell 2-1 to Argentina in the World Cup semifinal on July 15, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford left his water bottle behind, which included a cheat sheet for potential penalties.In an amusing twist, Pickford's bottle was discovered by none other than the Argentina players the goalkeeper was preparing to face in a potential penalty shootout.A bemused group of Argentina players, including Lionel Messi, inspected the water bottle to see where Pickford thought they may take a penalty.
Check out Lionel Messi’s face when Argentina found the England keeper’s water bottle with penalty notes of all the playersNot that the game got that far. pic.twitter.
com/ml33mmmdcz— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) July 16, 2026Pickford's cheat sheet was, of course, never used after Argentina staged an epic late comeback at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.Anthony Gordon gave England a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute and England entered the final 10 minutes of the game clinging onto the lead.But as it has done so many times at this tournament already, Argentina produced late drama to win.
Enzo Fernandez’s long-range strike equalized in the 85th minute for the defending champions with an assist from Messi. In the 92nd, Messi floated a cross to the back post that was headed home by substitute Lautaro Martinez to give Argentina a 2-1 win.After the game, Argentina fitness coach Luis Martin posted a photo of the water bottle to his social media.
🚨 Jordan Pickford's water bottle for the possible penalty shootout 👀🏴 pic.twitter.com/rQM7t0bCeY— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) July 16, 2026Pickford had clearly put in a large effort to study each player's tendencies, with detailed instructions on what to do against every non-goalkeeper on Argentina's roster.
For some players, Pickford simply said to dive left or right. Others included instructions to fake one way and then dive the other, or simply stay central.This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch as Messi, Argentina players dis
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