England's World Cup dreams were shattered in Atlanta as Argentina scored twice in the final five minutes to snatch a 2-1 victory in the semi-final. The defending champions, trailing 1-0 with time running out, rallied to reach a second straight World Cup final, where they will face Spain in New Jersey on Sunday.
But the match was overshadowed by a provocative post-match display. Argentina players Lisandro Martínez and Giovani Lo Celso held up a banner reading "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" — a direct reference to the 1982 Falklands war, which killed 649 Argentinians and 255 Britons over 74 days. The pair grinned and waved to fans. It was unclear where the banner came from.
“Argentina beat England 2-1 in World Cup semi-final; players taunted with Falklands banner, sparking political backlash.”
The gesture triggered an immediate political backlash. The UK business secretary, Peter Kyle, called it "entirely inappropriate", demanding an investigation by Fifa. "Politics needs to be separate from football," he said. Fifa's stadium code of conduct bans political banners, but the governing body did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Martínez, who has played for Manchester United for four years, defended the act. "I can picture a Malvinas veteran seeing that and weeping," he said. "I don't know if there might be sanctions or not, but what they did was display that banner and assert that the islands belong to us." Teammate Leandro Paredes added: "Sadly, it is a sad part of our history, for everyone involved in that chapter of, I repeat, our history. And it hurts. We knew we were playing for them, too."
It is not the first time political banners have appeared during this World Cup. Last month in Los Angeles, Iranian Americans waved pre-revolutionary flags during Iran's match, though those games proceeded without incident.
For England, attention now turns to the manager's future. Thomas Tuchel, who led the side to the semi-finals, has faced widespread criticism for his decisions during the defeat. He remains contracted to lead England into Euro 2028 and retains the backing of FA chief executive Mark Bullingham. But bookmakers have installed Pep Guardiola as the 10/3 favourite to succeed him if Tuchel leaves. Other candidates include Mauricio Pochettino (7/1) and Lee Carsley (15/2), while former manager Gareth Southgate is at 10/1 for a remarkable return.
England's tournament is not over: they face France in the third-place playoff.