Argentina’s victory over England was always going to come with a political bill

Argentina’s place in the World Cup final may have been earned on the pitch, but the post-match celebrations quickly wandered into territory FIFA prefers to keep off its spreadsheets. After beating England in the semi-final, Argentina now faces the prospect of a fine after a banner and a stream of nationalist gestures revived the country’s claim to the Falkland Islands. Football, as ever, was unable to remain merely football for very long.

The most conspicuous intervention came from vice-president Victoria Villarruel, who posted on X after Wednesday’s win that it was not just another match and attached a video appearing to show Argentine soldiers. She also declared that the Falklands are Argentine and complained that, while the banner had been barred from the stadium, the sentiment lived on in the country’s blood and hearts. Before the match, she had described the semi-final as a chance to put the invaders in their place. Subtlety, in other words, did not make the squad list.

The players were not exactly models of restraint either. After their dramatic 3-2 win over Egypt in the last 16, they sang chants referring to the Falklands as well as Argentine icons Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. That sort of thing may play well in the dressing room and on social media, but it also invites the kind of disciplinary attention that football authorities like to pretend is somehow unexpected.

Lionel Scaloni, the manager, had tried before the semi-final to draw a cleaner line. He said he would not mix football and politics and stressed that the match should be treated as a football match, especially out of respect for what happened many years ago. He called the period a sad one in Argentina’s history and said there was little that could be done about it now. He also noted that wars are happening elsewhere and are rightly criticised, but insisted that the game itself should not be confused with those disputes. It was a sensible position, which is probably why it was drowned out once the final whistle blew.

The semi-final carried extra security because of the long historical tensions between Argentina and England. England were beaten by late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez, and the scoreline did not exactly encourage anyone to keep their celebrations neat and apolitical. FIFA now has the familiar task of deciding whether to punish a footballing outburst that was, by recent standards, almost inevitable. The broader lesson is hardly new: international sport likes to sell itself as a neutral stage, until the old grievances climb back onto it wearing national colours.

Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com