Argentina’s ‘idiotic’ players today faced calls to be banned after several of their stars carried a banner claiming the Falkland Islands belong to their country following their World Cup victory over England.
Despite FIFA’s ban on political flags, Tottenham captain Cristian Romero, Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez and ex-Spurs midfielder Giovani Lo Celso celebrated with the controversial sign after the final whistle.
Captain and star player Lionel Messi was also seen dancing alongside the banner after his team beat the Three Lions 2-1 in Atlanta.
UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Peter Kyle, said today it was ‘entirely inappropriate’ for Argentinian players to wave the banner.
Tory shadow minister Andrew Griffith said: ‘Labour’s Chagos surrender has made us look weak, and British territory up for grabs. The Falklands are British. Whoever won the football. This idiotic display from the Argies was clearly against FIFA rules. They should be punished.’
FIFA has yet to comment, but the governing body is under huge pressure to punish Argentina for flouting its rules with an incendiary banner backing the country’s claim to the Falkland Islands. Manchester United and Spurs are being urged to punish Romero and Martinez.
Twelve years ago, the team carried the same banner at an international friendly and was fined just £20,000.
But there are growing calls for the players who carried the banner at a match of such magnitude – watched by an estimated 950 million people worldwide – to face tougher sanctions.
A total of 255 British servicemen were among the 907 people who died in the 1982 Falklands War, which saw UK armed forces retake the islands after an Argentine invasion.
Britain first landed on the uninhabited islands in 1690 and claimed them for the Crown in 1765. It has maintained a permanent presence there since 1833 – 47 years before Argentina became a fully unified state following its declaration of independence from Spain in 1816.
The last official referendum of Falkland Islanders was held in 2013, when 99.8 per cent of voters chose to remain a British Overseas Territory.
The offensive banner made a terrible night even worse for England. The team were leading 1-0 with just five minutes remaining before Messi’s men fought back to win.
Thomas Tuchel is facing calls to be sacked over his tactical decisions and defensive substitutions as England stood on the verge of reaching their first World Cup final since 1966.
The German manager insisted after the game that he had ‘no regrets’, but pundits and fans have turned on him after his team surrendered the lead when he took off speedy goalscorer Anthony Gordon and replaced the winger with defender Ezri Konsa.
Tuchel then took off Declan Rice for Nico O’Reilly and Reece James for Dan Burn in a further retreat 10 minutes later. Enzo Fernandez equalised with five minutes left and Lautaro Martinez won it for Argentina in stoppage time.
‘There are a million coaches after the game who know what to do better. If it doesn’t end up well, it’s easy to say that my decisions were wrong,’ said Tuchel.
In comments some claimed hinted he blamed the players: ‘After the goal, we dropped back and waited too much, and the crosses and chances kept coming. I tried to help the team.
‘It doesn’t help if we don’t have the ball. We couldn’t get out, of course we wanted to go for the second goal.’
Lisandro Martinez and Giovani Lo Celso, who have played for clubs in the Premier League, celebrate with a banner claiming the Falkland Islands
Giovani Lo Celso and teammate Nicolas Otamendi celebrated on the pitch with the sign after the final whistle blew
Lo Celso lays the banner on the pitch after Argentina’s victory
The banner, which used the Argentinians name for the Falklands – Las Malvinas – was also passed around the team’s jubilant crowd of supporters
Argentina fans hold a banner with the words ‘The Malvinas are Argentinian’, referring to the Falkland Islands
The ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ banner, which used the Argentine name for the Falklands – Las Malvinas – was held by members of the crowd and star player Lionel Messi was also seen dancing alongside it.
FIFA had banned flags referencing the Falklands from the stadium due to their political significance and the incident is likely to be reported to footballing authorities.
On X, there were calls for Romero to be stripped of the Spurs captaincy and for Manchester United to sell Martinez for their part in the stunt.
Others called for the players to be suspended from the final, while acknowledging how unlikely that was in light of repeated accusations that FIFA and referees have been biased towards the Argentine team during the competition.
Previous financial sanctions have also done little to deter Argentine players from displaying slogans about the Falkland Islands in the past.
In 2014, the Argentine Football Association was fined just £20,000 after its team displayed an almost identical ‘Las Malvinas Son Argentinas’ banner before a friendly against Slovenia.
Authorities are said to be treating this case more seriously as it is on the World Cup stage – in front of England and their fans. Plus, FIFA had banned such banners and threatened disciplinary action to those who broke the rules.
Tensions over the ownership of the Falklands, which are located 300 miles off the coast of Argentina but owned by Britain, had been a major talking point in the build-up to England’s semi-final.
Argentina’s players were captured singing a chant in which they claimed the Falkland Islands were theirs in the aftermath of their last-16 victory over Egypt.
The country’s Foreign Minister, Pablo Quirno, also claimed the people living on the islands had been ‘artificially implanted’ – and that a referendum on British sovereignty was illegitimate.
And after Argentina’s victory, vice-president Victoria Villarruel posted on X that ‘it wasn’t just another match’ alongside a video of what appeared to be Argentine soldiers.
‘The Falklands are Argentine,’ she wrote.
‘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 also branded England as ‘usurping pirates’.
She wrote: ‘Tomorrow we play against the usurping pirates. This isn’t just another match.
‘I’m not going to be politically correct or cold-hearted; against the English, it’s always something more.’
Falklanders were asked in a 2013 ballot whether they wanted the islands to remain under British rule, with 99.8 per cent voting yes.
Captain Harry Kane comforts goal scorer Anthony Gordon after the final whistle following their 2-1 defeat to Argentina
Kane looks to the skies as Argentina celebrate on the final whistle in Atlanta, Georgia
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford sobs at the final whistle after England came within minutes of progressing to the World Cup final
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper rejected the referendum attack and tried to cool tensions.
The animosity dates back principally to a ten-week war in 1982, when an Argentinian invasion of the Falklands was seen off by the British – at the cost of 907 lives.
It spilled over into football four years later when Maradona scored his infamous ‘hand of God’ goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final clash.
He used his fist to put the opening goal past England, allowing Argentina to win 2-1 and go on to claim the World Cup trophy.
During tonight’s match, an impressive performance from the Three Lions at the start of the second half saw Antony Gordon put the side in front.
But substitutions to send England into a defensive set-up would heartbreakingly backfire.
England were just less than six minutes away from their first World Cup final for 60 years when Enzo Fernandez scored the equaliser that denied them.
This was followed two minutes into injury time by a header from Lautaro Martinez, who secured Argentina’s place in Sunday night’s final against Spain in New York.
England fans complained about the conduct of the Argentinian fans after the game.
One supporter told the Daily Mail: ‘Obviously [we] were upset about the game, walking out the stadium, minding our own business.
‘Some guy, Argentina fan, comes up waving his flag, shoves it in our face, winding us up.
‘You know obviously someone’s going to retaliate, right? But luckily we didn’t retaliate but there’s a lot of animosity.
‘When Argentina scored, an Argentinian guy next to me took his shirt off, waving it, slapping it in my face, absolutely disgusting.
‘Disgusting behaviour from the Argentinian fans, absolutely disgusting.
‘Tonight there’s not enough cops to police all of this. I’m telling you right now it’s going to kick off later in bars and stuff for sure, 100 per cent.’
It was England’s fourth-ever appearance in the final four of a World Cup, making this the most high-stakes match since 1966.
But in a story familiar to long-suffering fans, they just couldn’t keep ahead at the final whistle.
The royals were among those quick to congratulate the team for their impressive run to the semis, with King Charles III taking to social media and writing: ‘Commiserations to Harry and the team.
‘While you Three Lions may be licking your wounds today, you remain the pride of a nation – and will rise again.’
And outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to England’s ‘passion’ and ‘energy’.
Writing on X, he said: ‘Gutted. Tonight wasn’t the result we all hoped for, but this England team has given it their all.
‘The passion and energy they’ve shown representing the badge has made us all proud.’
