Argentina's national team may face disciplinary action for unfurling a Falkland Islands banner while celebrating their win over England in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-final.
The banner unfurled by the players on the field after the match reads "The Falkland Islands belong to Argentina" in Spanish.
The last world champion, Argentina, made a dramatic comeback in the match played on July 15, beating England 2-1 with two goals after the 85th minute and putting its name in the final. Argentina will face Spain in the championship match on Sunday.
The banner unfurled after the semi-final match will probably return to Argentina as a punishment.
The Falkland Islands, in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, are among the British overseas territories.
These islands are still a matter of dispute between Argentina and England, even though 44 years have passed since the war between the two countries.
The two countries fought a war between April and June 1982 over the islands, which are located approximately 480 km off the east coast of Argentina. During the 74-day war, 655 Argentinian and 255 British soldiers and three people from the Falkland Islands lost their lives.
Argentina maintains its claim to sovereignty over the islands, arguing that Britain "usurped" the islands.
The banner in the semi-final match is not the first banner unfurled by Argentina
Before a friendly match against Slovenia in 2014, Argentinian football players unfurled a banner with the same message, and FIFA fined the country 20 thousand pounds (approximately 1 million 270 thousand TL).
FIFA, the boss of world football, argued that Argentina's move violated the rules of political action and team discipline.
After the semi-final victory, Argentina Vice President Victoria Villarruel also shared a post similar to the players' on the X platform.
Villarruel posted a video purportedly showing Argentinian soldiers in the Falklands War and wrote: "This was no ordinary match."
Villarruel later shared a photo of the players with a banner with the message: "They forbade bringing them to the stadium, and they forgot that we carry them in our blood and in our hearts."
Villarruel also published a political message before the semi-final match, writing that this match was "about giving the invaders their place."
After the 3-2 victory against Egypt in the last 16 rounds, Argentine players chanted slogans referring to the Falkland Islands and Argentina's legendary players Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi.
Coach Lionel Scaloni said before the semi-final that he would not mix football and politics.
The Argentinian coach said, "The truth is that this is a football match. I cannot confuse these, especially out of respect for what happened years ago."
"This was one of the saddest periods in our history and there's not much we can do about it, that's the truth," Scalini said.
Stating that there were events in other parts of the world and that they criticized the existence of war, Scalini said, "Of course we remember those people. But this is a football match; we should not confuse the two."
The semi-final match, which England lost with the goals of Enzo Fernandez (85') and Lautaro Martinez (90'+2), was played under strict security measures due to historical tensions between the two countries.