Argentina's players make firm promise to England squad ahead of World Cup semi-final
Argentina's players have been singing about how they'll beat England in the World Cup for the Falkland Islands.
With England defeating Norway and Argentina overcoming Switzerland the two countries are set to meet in the World Cup semi finals to see who gets to play in the final and who has to endure the third place playoff nobody is really that interested in.
Both England and Argentina had to go into extra time to dispatch their opponents but they both managed to get over the line in the end and will face each other in Atlanta on Wednesday (15 July).
After Argentina's 3-1 win against the Swiss they were dancing in their dressing room singing how they were going to beat England 'for the Malvinas, for Diego, for Leo's last one'.
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For context, the 'Malvinas' is what Argentina call the Falkland Islands, a self-governing British Overseas Territory, which they invaded and occupied back in 1982 while their country was ruled by a military junta.
The UK did not meekly accept the invasion of one of its overseas territories and after a war lasting a little over two months the Argentines surrendered, the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina ended the following year.
Argentina has continued to insist the Falklands belong to them, an insistence which runs contrary to the wishes of the people living there, and has regularly engaged in sabre-rattling over the islands.
Relations between Argentina and the UK have not been great since the war, as you might expect when one country invades another's territory, and the tensions have played out on the football pitch in the past.
Most famous of these games was the 1986 World Cup game where Argentina beat England 2-1, the game with the infamous 'Hand of God' goal where Diego Maradona scored by punching the ball into the net.
In his autobiography the player said he thought the goal and the game was 'revenge' for the Falklands.
Maradona scored another goal in that game, this one not being blatant cheating and turning out to be one of the best pieces of football the competition has ever witnessed.
The World Cup rivalry picked up again in 1998 where Argentina won on penalties after a 2-2 draw where David Beckham was shown a red card, with Diego Simeone later admitting he'd feigned injury to get Beckham sent off.
Four years later they met in the group stages and there was a redemption for Beckham as he scored a penalty and England won 1-0.
The last game between the two countries was a 2005 friendly won 3-2 by England, so 21 years later the rivalry is going to resume.
Chants about a war Argentina started and lost aside, their players also sang about 'Leo's last one', mentioning the 39-year-old Lionel Messi and what is likely his final World Cup.
Argentina won it last time in 2022 and Messi has been impressive this tournament, unlike certain other aged footballers still trying to hack it this late in their careers, and it would be a worthy end to his international career if he was to win the World Cup again.
To do that they'll have to make good on their promise to beat England, who will have their own ideas about winning the semi final.
One would hope Argentina will keep the political edge to their songs out of the game, since FIFA is clear that's not what the World Cup is for, though of course FIFA's enforcement of its own rules has been called into question.
Argentina also sang about the Falklands after beating Egypt 3-2, FIFA said at the time they would 'take no action' over the song.
World Cup 2026 fixture schedule and UK kick off times
Tuesday, 14 July
Semi-final - Match 101: France vs Spain, kick-off 8pm - Arlington, US
Wednesday, 15 July
Semi-final - Match 102: England vs Argentina, kick-off 8pm - Atlanta, US
Saturday, 18 July
Third Place Playoff - Match 103: Match 101 losers vs Match 102 losers, kick-off 10pm - Miami, US
Sunday, 19 July
Final - Match 104: Match 101 winners vs Match 102 winners, kick-off 8pm - New Jersey, US
Joe Harker