One image showed former Spurs player Giovanni Lo Celso holding the banner aloft, among others
Argentina’s players hold a banner reading “The Malvinas (Falkland Islands) belong to Argentina,” after win(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Argentina have celebrated snatching tonight’s World Cup win from England in a provocative way, with players taking a banner from supporters in the crowd that read: “The Falkland Islands are Argentinian.”
Manchester United’s Lisandro Martínez was seen holding the banner aloft, as well as former Spurs player Giovanni Lo Celso, among others. The banner was echoing the words of Argentinian President Javier Milei, who wrote in a post earlier this year that the islands “were, are and will always be Argentine.”
Argentina inherited Las Malvinas, known in English as the Falkland Islands, after its independence from Spain in 1816. Britain took control in 1833 and during the Thatcher regime, fought a brief war with Argentina in 1982.
Argentina’s win came after Lautaro Martinez scored at the 92nd-minute mark in a brutal comeback for England fans, to take home the win 2-1. Argentina’s win will see them face off European football champions Spain in the Monday final.
Players stand around the banner on the Falklands(Image: Getty Images)
England had been on track to reach their World Cup final since 1966. But it would seem that, again, football will not be coming home this time around.
The fierce and enduring animosity between England and Argentina runs much deeper than football, tracing its most intense modern roots back to the Falklands War in 1982. This brief but bloody military conflict over a disputed territory in the South Atlantic Ocean fundamentally changed the diplomatic relationship between the two nations, permanently infusing their future athletic meetings with heavy political and nationalistic undertones, reports the Express.
Over 74 days, the military forces of both nations engaged in intense, close-quarters land, air, and sea battles in unforgiving weather conditions. The fierce fighting finally came to an end on June 14 1982 when the remaining Argentine forces officially surrendered at Port Stanley.
On the football pitch, this geopolitical tension played out during the 1986 World Cup quarter-final, where Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal and his spectacular solo effort eliminated a furious England side. They have clashed several times on the global stage since, including a dramatic penalty shootout victory for Argentina in 1998 and a tense 1-0 group stage victory for England in 2002, firmly cementing the fixture as one of international football’s most fiercely contested rivalries.
