ARGENTINA MAY HAVE last night’s World Cup semifinal against England but a diplomatic battle between the two countries has continued today after Argentine players brought a banner onto the pitch that claimed sovereignty over The Falkland Islands.
It read “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, which translates to “The Malvinas are Argentinian”.
Las Malvinas is what Argentina calls The Falkland Islands, a British-ruled archipelago in the South Atlantic around 500km off the coast off the Patagonian coast that was uninhabited when first discovered by the British in the 17th century.
The two countries went to war over the islands when Argentina invaded them in 1982. The war only lasted 10 weeks and Argentina suffered heavy casualties.
Argentina still claims sovereignty over the islands despite a 2013 referendum that saw 99.8% of roughly 1,500 voters opt to remain a British overseas territory. Three people voted against British rule.
The diplomatic tensions over the status of the islands were already on show before kick-off last night when Argentina’s vice president called the English “usurping pirates”.
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“Tomorrow we play against the usurping pirates. This isn’t just another match,” wrote Victoria Villarruel in a social media post.
“Until our last breath, we’re going to claim what’s ours!”
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni had said before the game he did not want the fixture to become about the conflict over the territory.
Britain’s business secretary Peter Kyle told Times Radio that the banner brought onto the pitch last night was “entirely inappropriate”.
He urged Fifa to “thoroughly” investigate what he described as an “egregious violation” of the rules.
Argentina are set to face disciplinary action for violating Article 34.3 of the tournament’s rules prohibiting the display of any political messages or slogans by players before, during or after a match.
¡Las Malvinas son Argentinas! 🇦🇷 Prohibieron llevarlas a la cancha y se olvidaron que las llevamos en la sangre y el corazón. pic.twitter.com/qB455HeqVX
— Victoria Villarruel (@VickyVillarruel) July 15, 2026
“Politics needs to be separate from football,” Kyle said.
“In fact, the World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football.
“That is now a matter for Fifa. I expect Fifa to do its investigation thoroughly.”
He also praised the English players for their “dignity”, which he said stood in “perfect contrast” to the Argentina team’s behaviour.
Today, a spokesperson for UK prime minister Keir Starmer said:
“The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falklands definitely are.
“Our position is unchanged, and our commitment to the Falklanders is unwavering.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch wrote on X: “The Falkland Islands are British. The Conservatives will always defend them.”
In August 2024 Rodri and Álvaro Morata were rightly banned for one match for singing “Gibraltar is Spain”.
Now the Argentine players who celebrated with the “Falklands are Argentine” banner must be barred from the final.
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The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, has called for the Argentine players who held the banner to be banned from playing in the final against Spain.
Meanwhile, Argentina has lodged a diplomatic protest with the UK over what it called the “unlawful” movement of a Royal Navy patrol ship near the Falkland Islands.
In an official statement shared on X by Argentine foreign minister Pablo Quirno after the World Cup match, the country’s foreign affairs ministry expressed its “strongest rejection” of the movements of HMS Medway and accused Britain of a “military incursion” into its waters.
A formal note of protest was submitted to the British embassy earlier this week, the statement said.
With reporting from Press Association
Written by David MacRedmond and posted on TheJournal.ie
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Argentina vs England: The game might be over but the diplomatic row about The Falklands rumbles on
ARGENTINA MAY HAVE last night’s World Cup semifinal against England but a diplomatic battle between the two countries has continued today after Argentine players brought a banner onto the pitch that claimed sovereignty over The Falkland Islands.
It read “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, which translates to “The Malvinas are Argentinian”.
Las Malvinas is what Argentina calls The Falkland Islands, a British-ruled archipelago in the South Atlantic around 500km off the coast off the Patagonian coast that was uninhabited when first discovered by the British in the 17th century.
The two countries went to war over the islands when Argentina invaded them in 1982. The war only lasted 10 weeks and Argentina suffered heavy casualties.
Argentina still claims sovereignty over the islands despite a 2013 referendum that saw 99.8% of roughly 1,500 voters opt to remain a British overseas territory. Three people voted against British rule.
The diplomatic tensions over the status of the islands were already on show before kick-off last night when Argentina’s vice president called the English “usurping pirates”.
“Tomorrow we play against the usurping pirates. This isn’t just another match,” wrote Victoria Villarruel in a social media post.
“Until our last breath, we’re going to claim what’s ours!”
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni had said before the game he did not want the fixture to become about the conflict over the territory.
Britain’s business secretary Peter Kyle told Times Radio that the banner brought onto the pitch last night was “entirely inappropriate”.
He urged Fifa to “thoroughly” investigate what he described as an “egregious violation” of the rules.
Argentina are set to face disciplinary action for violating Article 34.3 of the tournament’s rules prohibiting the display of any political messages or slogans by players before, during or after a match.
“Politics needs to be separate from football,” Kyle said.
“In fact, the World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football.
“That is now a matter for Fifa. I expect Fifa to do its investigation thoroughly.”
He also praised the English players for their “dignity”, which he said stood in “perfect contrast” to the Argentina team’s behaviour.
Today, a spokesperson for UK prime minister Keir Starmer said:
“The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falklands definitely are.
“Our position is unchanged, and our commitment to the Falklanders is unwavering.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch wrote on X: “The Falkland Islands are British. The Conservatives will always defend them.”
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, has called for the Argentine players who held the banner to be banned from playing in the final against Spain.
Meanwhile, Argentina has lodged a diplomatic protest with the UK over what it called the “unlawful” movement of a Royal Navy patrol ship near the Falkland Islands.
In an official statement shared on X by Argentine foreign minister Pablo Quirno after the World Cup match, the country’s foreign affairs ministry expressed its “strongest rejection” of the movements of HMS Medway and accused Britain of a “military incursion” into its waters.
A formal note of protest was submitted to the British embassy earlier this week, the statement said.
With reporting from Press Association
Written by David MacRedmond and posted on TheJournal.ie
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Argentina Britaiin Ed Davey Keir Starmer Kemi Badenoch Las Malvinas Soccer The Falkland Islands UK World Cup World Cup 2026