Argentina face the prospect of disciplinary action from Fifa after their players celebrated the World Cup semi-final win against England with a banner in support of their country’s claims to the Falkland Islands.
The defending world champions produced a dramatic late comeback in Atlanta, scoring twice to defeat Thomas Tuchel’s side 2-1 and book a showdown with Spain in Sunday’s final.
After the final whistle, Argentina players celebrated while holding a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, which translates as “The Falklands are Argentine”.
The Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean, remain the subject of a sovereignty dispute between Britain and Argentina.
The two nations went to war over the group of islands, situated 300 miles off Argentina’s east coast, from April to June 1982.
The 74-day conflict led to the deaths of 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen. Three people from the islands also died.
In 2014, Fifa fined the Argentine Football Association £20,000 after its players held up a banner with the same message before a friendly against Slovenia.
World football’s governing body said the gesture had breached rules on political action and team misconduct.
After Wednesday’s victory, Argentina vice-president Victoria Villarruel posted on X, external, writing “it wasn’t just another match” alongside a video of what appeared to be Argentine soldiers.
“The Falklands are Argentine,” Villarruel posted. “They banned bringing them to the stadium and forgot that we carry them in our blood and our hearts.”
In the build-up to the game, Villarruel had said the semi-final was “about putting the invaders in their place”.
MP Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said Argentina’s banner was “entirely inappropriate,” adding that he expects Fifa to do a thorough investigation in to the matter.
“I think [an investigation] is certain to happen because it was such an egregious violation of the rules of not having political activity as part of the football,” Kyle told BBC Breakfast.
Argentina players also sang chants which referenced the Falklands and Argentina greats Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi following their dramatic 3-2 win over Egypt in the last 16.
However, before the semi-final, manager Lionel Scaloni had said he was “not going to mix” football and politics.
“The reality is that this is a football match. I can’t mix things up, especially out of respect for what happened so many years ago,” Scaloni had said.
“It was a very sad period in our history, and there isn’t much we can do about it, that’s the reality.
“Things are happening elsewhere in the world, and we criticise the existence of war. We certainly remember those people, of course. But it is a football match – we shouldn’t confuse the two.”
The semi-final, which England lost to late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez, was held under increased security measures because of the historical tensions between the two nations.
