Argentina's players celebrated their World Cup semi-final berth by chanting about beating England "for the Falklands" — ratcheting up tension before a grudge match that will also mark Lionel Messi's first ever meeting with the Three Lions.
As they lapped up their extra-time win over Switzerland in the dressing room, the squad broke into song: "For the Malvinas, For Diego, For Leo's [Messi's] last one," danced around. They also joined supporters in another anti-English refrain: "And you see it, and you see it, anyone who doesn't jump is an Englishman."
“Argentina players chanted about the Falklands after beating Switzerland to set up a World Cup semi-final against England — Messi's first ever meeting with the Three Lions.”
The Malvinas — Argentina's term for the Falkland Islands — refer to the 1982 conflict in which 649 Argentine military personnel died attempting to reclaim the territory from the United Kingdom. The sides have met three times at World Cups between 1986 and 2002, but have not faced each other competitively since David Beckham's penalty settled their 2002 encounter. Their only friendly since, in 2005, ended in a late Michael Owen winner.
Now they meet again at 20:00 BST on Wednesday in Atlanta — a moment 39-year-old Messi has never experienced despite making more than 200 appearances and scoring 125 goals for Argentina. "England can outrun Argentina but they just have that little genius Messi. They all play for him. Everyone should be excited," said BBC pundit Micah Richards. "Marking him is impossible... He switches on at the right times [and] he's got the best technique. His spatial awareness is fantastic."
Former England striker Wayne Rooney warned that Messi "can be a weakness defensively for Argentina" because "he doesn't run back" but added: "He has big moments... The thing with Messi is his decision-making – he comes to life in moments of the game and he makes the right decision."
Argentina are aiming to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to retain a World Cup. They have had to dig deep in knockout games, with Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez both scoring in extra time to beat Switzerland. Thomas Tuchel's England, who downed Norway in extra time, will be relishing the challenge, said Chris Sutton on BBC Radio 5 Live: "This isn't a great Argentina team but they do have a habit of finding a way."