Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had been preparing to travel to watch England face Spain in the World Cup final, contingent on an England victory over Argentina last night.
Those plans collapsed after Argentina scored two late goals to eliminate England, ending the prime minister’s hopes of a celebratory finale to his tenure.
Following the final whistle, Argentine players were handed a white banner from the crowd reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” — “The Falkland Islands are Argentinian” — and held it aloft on the pitch.
The display drew condemnation in the UK. Business Secretary Peter Kyle called the act “entirely inappropriate” and said politics must remain separate from football.
Downing Street has backed calls for an investigation and stated firmly that while the World Cup may not belong to Britain, the Falkland Islands do.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey argued football’s governing body should impose stronger sanctions, noting that players were banned for one match in 2024 for a similar sovereignty-related chant.
The Argentine Football Association was previously fined after national team players posed with the same message in 2014.
Argentina’s vice president welcomed the result and shared imagery referencing the 1982 conflict, a war between the two nations over the islands that caused hundreds of deaths.
The sovereignty dispute remains a sensitive fault line between the UK and Argentina decades after the hostilities ended.
