Argentina May Face FIFA Punishment Over Falklands Banner

Argentina could get into trouble with FIFA after their players celebrated their World Cup semi-final win over England by showing a banner that supports Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands.

The defending champions came back to beat Thomas Tuchel’s team 2-1 in Atlanta, scoring two late goals to secure a spot in the final against Spain on Sunday.

After the match ended, several Argentina players held up a banner that read “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” (“The Falklands are Argentine”). This political statement might lead to sanctions from FIFA.

PUNCH Online reports that the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic, have been a long-standing point of dispute between Britain and Argentina.

This disagreement resulted in the 1982 Falklands War, a 74-day conflict in which 655 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers, and three islanders lost their lives.

According to BBC Sport, FIFA has previously punished Argentina for a similar action. In 2014, the Argentine Football Association was fined £20,000 after the national team displayed the same banner during an international friendly against Slovenia.

FIFA decided then that this action broke its rules on political messages and team misconduct.

After Wednesday’s win, Argentina’s Vice-President, Victoria Villarruel, posted on X, saying, “It wasn’t just another match.” She shared a video that seemed to show Argentine soldiers.

She added, “The Falklands are Argentine. They banned bringing them to the stadium and forgot that we carry them in our blood and our hearts.”

Before the semi-final, Villarruel had also called the match “about putting the invaders in their place.”

Argentina’s players had earlier drawn attention for singing chants about the Falkland Islands, as well as football legends Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, after their thrilling 3-2 win against Egypt in the round of 16.

But Argentina head coach, Lionel Scaloni, had insisted in a press conference before the England game that football should not mix with 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.

“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,” he said.

The semi-final, which was decided by late goals from Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez after England had taken the lead, was played under tight security due to the long-standing tensions between the two countries.