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Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has been covering this World Cup as the competition reaches its climax in North America

Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand jokingly threatened to walk out of the BBC studio live on TV at the World Cup in 2022. The now-47-year-old was teased about Manchester City's dramatic 2012 Premier League title win, which came at United's expense.

Ferdinand has once again been a prominent voice at this World Cup for FOX Sports and we have now reached the semi-final stage. Argentina were crowned champions four years ago and they'll face England in a final-four showdown for the ages on Wednesday evening.

La Albiceleste's run to the final in 2022 began in the group stage and they crucially topped Group C thanks to a 2-0 win against Poland, after suffering a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia to begin the competition.

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It was after this victory that Ferdinand was joined in the BBC studio by ex-City defender Pablo Zabaleta. The clash was a nervy one for Poland, who had one eye on Saudi Arabia vs Mexico, needing a result there to ensure they progressed through the group. Zabaleta couldn't help but liken this situation to a rather infamous Premier League final day.

Goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez secured Argentina's place as group winners in Qatar, but this left Poland sweating. As the match finished, they were going through on their disciplinary record, as they sat on the same goal difference as Mexico and both had four points.

But Mexico's clash was ongoing and if they added another to their 2-0 lead, they'd pip Poland. In the end, a last-minute Saudi Arabia goal meant Poland ended as runners-up.

Joining Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer post-match, Ferdinand admitted he had been in such a situation before, where he had an eye on a game elsewhere. This prompted Zabaleta to jab: "Like 2012?"

He was, of course, referring to the final day of the 2011/12 Premier League season, on which United had thought they'd won the title with a 1-0 win against Sunderland, only for noisy neighbours City to pull victory from the fire against QPR. Sergio Aguero's last-gasp winner sealed the unlikely deal.

Ferdinand was part of the United team that had to witness their rivals' stunning comeback and Zabaleta played for City at the time. After the jibe, Ferdinand joked he'd had enough of punditry for one night.

"Can you get me off air, please?" he joked. "He's brought up the City stuff with Aguero's goal. He's out of order, you've got to go now."

Lineker couldn't resist one final jab, as the ex-Leicester striker shouted "Agueroooo" in homage to Martin Tyler's iconic commentary of the dramatic title-winning goal.

Ferdinand is hosting a World Cup show for FOX Sports this summer and is also active on his eponymous YouTube channel. His country will clash with Zabaleta's when England meet Argentina in Atlanta. A place in the final against Spain or France awaits the victor.