After Wednesday’s victory, Argentina vice-president Victoria Villarruel posted on X, external, writing “it wasn’t just another match” alongside a video of what appeared to be Argentine soldiers.
“The Falklands are Argentine,” Villarruel posted. “They banned bringing them to the stadium and forgot that we carry them in our blood and our hearts.”
In the build-up to the game, Villarruel had said the semi-final was “about putting the invaders in their place”.
Argentina players also sang chants which referenced the Falklands and Argentina greats Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi following their dramatic 3-2 win over Egypt in the last 16.
However, before the semi-final, manager Lionel Scaloni had said he was “not going to mix” football and 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,” Scaloni had said.
“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.”
The semi-final, which England lost to late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez, was held under increased security measures because of the historical tensions between the two nations.
