Argentina Break Silence On Falkland Islands Banner After FIFA World Cup 2026 Semi-final Win Over England
Argentina came back from 0-1 down against England until the 84th minute of the FIFA World Cup semi-final to win the match 2-1
- Argentine players displayed a banner stating "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" after WC semi-final vs England
- The Malvinas/Falkland Islands conflict dates back to a 1982 war between Argentina and Britain
- "Sadly, it's a painful part of our history for everyone involved," Argentina player Leandro Paredes explained
Argentina came back from 0-1 down against England until the 84th minute of the FIFA World Cup semi-final to win the match 2-1. During post-match celebrations, Argentine players held a banner handed over by fans in the stands reading, "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" - "The Malvinas are Argentine." Argentina refers to the Falkland Islands as Islas Malvinas. They were invaded in 1982 under orders from Argentina's then-military dictatorship, triggering a 10-week war.
FIFA can prosecute Argentina's players and football federation because its disciplinary code prohibits, at stadiums, any "message that is not appropriate for a sports event," including those of "a political, ideological, religious or offensive nature." The FIFA fines for political messaging are $5,000 to $20,000, according to news agency AP.
Argentina player Leandro Paredes explained in detail their decision to carry the banner.
"Sadly, it's a painful part of our history for everyone involved in that chapter of our past. And it hurts. We knew we were playing for them too, for all the people, for our entire nation. I believe we did it in the best possible way," Paredes said on Sky News. "We always wanted to convey that, for us, it wasn't just a football match."
On Wednesday, Argentina player Lisandro Martinez was asked if the banner could have stirred deep emotions and brought tears to a veteran of the Malvinas conflict.
"We couldn't let the Argentine people down," said Martinez, who has played in England for the past four years with Manchester United.
The sporting rivalry between the two countries is heightened by political tensions over the South Atlantic archipelago. It is a British Overseas Territory with a population of around 3,500 people, located about 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) from the U.K. and 300 miles (480 kilometers) from Argentina.
Argentina argues that the islands were illegally taken from it in 1833. Britain, which says its territorial claim dates to 1765, sent a warship to the islands in 1833 to expel Argentine forces that sought to establish sovereignty over the territory.
The war in 1982 killed 649 Argentine troops, 255 British service personnel, and three islanders.
That conflict ended during the 1982 World Cup in Spain, where Argentina, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all played. British television networks declined to broadcast Argentina's opening game of the tournament, in which the defending champions lost to Belgium.
British government minister Kyle told the BBC that "politics needs to be separate from football."
"In fact, the World Cup has as one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football," he said. "That is now a matter for FIFA."
With AP inputs
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