Argentina’s Football Association unanimously approved for July 15 to be ‘National Football Teams Day’ in commemoration of the Albiceleste’s victory over England in the semifinals of the 2026 World Cup.
Trailing 1-0 going into the 85th minute, Argentina rallied for a 2-1 victory over England to reach the final for the second successive World Cup.
“The date was chosen to commemorate the Albiceleste’s great and historic victory over England in the semi-final of the 2026 World Cup,” AFA said in a statement (via ESPN) following Wednesday’s council executive meeting.
“The team, led by Lionel Scaloni, were trailing the English side by a single goal but, thanks to goals from Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez, managed to turn the result around and send the whole country into a frenzy, with people flooding the streets in celebration.”
The win over England reignited Argentina’s historical claim to the Falkland Islands, that are about 8,000 miles from Great Britain and 300 miles from the Argentina mainland.
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Argentina players held a banner on the pitch following their win over England with the message “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” (The Malvinas are Argentinian). Argentina refers to the Falkland Islands as Islas Malvinas.
The gesture drew uproar in England and the UK government called upon FIFA to investigate the issue.
Argentina went on to lose the World Cup final to Spain and the post-match scenes involved violent clashes between both sets of players.
It led to FIFA opening disciplinary proceedings for assault against Leandro Paredes and Nahuel Molina as well as assistant coach Roberto Ayala. The AFA were also hit with investigations over the political references to the Falklands after the semifinals as well as allegations of racist abuse and inappropiate chanting.
Argentina President Javier Milei described the players’ celebration with the banner as “perfectly valid,” and said the message “reflects a sentiment shared by all Argentines,” although he expected FIFA to sanction the team with a fine.
Argentinian club Almirante Brown displayed last weekend their new jersey that carries the same slogan claiming the country’s sovereignty over the Falkland Islands during a second division league game.
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Source: Complete Sports
