A spot in the final of the World Cup had just been secured, but Argentina\u2019s football players wanted to declare another victory over England, whom they had just defeated 2-1 in the semifinal. Sweaty shirts off, they paraded on the field with a banner that read: \u201cLas Malvinas son Argentinas\u201d, translating to \u201cThe Falklands are Argentinian\u201d.<\/p>\n
The islands, British territory, have for decades been a source of simmering tensions between the United Kingdom and Argentina, which claims them. In recent years, the governments of the two countries have mostly tried to limit those differences to formal positions, without escalating the dispute.<\/p>\n
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The Argentinian team now risks being sanctioned by FIFA over the banner, as it goes against the world football governing body\u2019s code of conduct, which bans \u201cbanners, flags, flyers, apparel and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive, and\/or discriminatory nature\u201d inside stadiums.<\/p>\n
But the banner, say analysts, has also underscored how the Falklands are once again returning as a major political talking point in Argentina, stirred by the government of President Javier Milei and his close friendship with United States President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Following their win, Argentinian Vice President Victoria Villarruel said in a post on X, \u201cThe Falklands are Argentinian! They banned bringing them to the stadium and forgot that we carry them in our blood and our hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Villarruel, also the daughter of a Falklands War veteran, said on X before the game that the national team were playing against the \u201cusurping pirates\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to be politically correct or cold-hearted; against the English, it\u2019s always something more. It\u2019s the Malvinas, it\u2019s Diego, it\u2019s Leo\u2019s last one, and it\u2019s putting the brakes on the invaders,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo Argentina! Because until our last breath, we\u2019re going to claim what\u2019s ours!\u201d Villarruel added.<\/p>\n
A two-century-old dispute<\/p>\n
The archipelago, with its two major islands of East Falkland and West Falkland, is situated 483km (300 miles) off the east coast of Argentina.<\/p>\n
The dispute over the islands\u2019 ownership dates back to the 19th century, with Argentina stating that it inherited them from Spain.<\/p>\n
However, the UK has administered the islands since 1833, cementing its claim to the territory through its longstanding presence there, as Englishman John Strong named the islands after his patron, Viscount Falkland, in 1690.<\/p>\n
In April 1982, the disputes over the territory reached a boiling point, leading to the Falklands War after Argentina seized the islands in an attempt to take control of them.<\/p>\n
Britain dispatched a military force to the archipelago, triggering 74 days of fighting that killed 655 Argentinian and 255 British service members and ended in the UK taking the territory.<\/p>\n
That loss has since been a wound that many Argentinians have carried.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat [World Cup semifinal] win reignites for Argentines the political issue of sovereignty over the islands,\u201d Louise Clare, lecturer in modern British politics at the University of Manchester, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt reignites the burning embers from a conflict nearly 45 years ago, and I think it never will cease to be significant for Argentina in terms of the relationship of the Malvinas and Argentine sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Argentina\u2019s present position<\/p>\n
In the days leading up to the semifinal \u2013 the first time England and Argentina had faced each other since the World Cup in 2002 \u2013 Argentinian officials once again raised the dispute domestically.<\/p>\n
In an opinion piece in the Argentinian newspaper La Nacion, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pablo Quirno said that Argentina\u2019s claim to the Falkland Islands, or Las Malvinas as they are known in Argentina, was based on \u201chistorical and legal grounds\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Falklands\/Malvinas issue is neither another case of decolonisation nor a matter of self-determination. It is a special and particular colonial situation, originating in the violation of Argentina\u2019s territorial integrity,\u201d Quirno said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTime does not transform an illegitimate occupation into sovereignty. Nor will it divide the territorial unity of the Argentinian Republic,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
In response to Quirno\u2019s op-ed, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s spokesperson told The Telegraph newspaper last week that the UK\u2019s position was clear: \u201cThe Falkland Islanders are British with the right to determine their own future.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Thursday morning, a spokesperson for Starmer also told the BBC that, after the Argentinian players held the banner, \u201cOur position is unchanged, self-determination rests with the islanders and our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2013, a referendum held in the Falkland Islands on their status found that 99.8 percent of the islanders voted in favour of remaining a British overseas territory.<\/p>\n
The Trump angle<\/p>\n
Yet, recent months have injected a wild card into the mix, in the form of US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
The Reuters news agency reported in April that a Pentagon memo had suggested options for Trump to target allies who had not been helpful enough during the US-Israel war on Iran, which included the US reviewing its position on the Falkland Islands. Trump has been critical of Starmer over the UK\u2019s refusal to support the war on Iran.<\/p>\n
Days later, Argentinian President Milei, who had previously taken a more moderate stance on the issue, said that Argentina was \u201cmaking progress like never before\u201d on the Falklands Islands.<\/p>\n
Argentinian historian Federico Lorenz explained that support for Argentina\u2019s claim over the islands extends across the political spectrum in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say that there is maybe no Argentine who doesn\u2019t feel that the islands are Argentine,\u201d Lorenz told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
But to Lorenz, the US\u2019s position on the Falkland Islands is one to be cautious of.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the Malvinas, you have a NATO base, and the main interest of the United States is stopping China, not supporting Argentina. So, in the event that the United States had some idea of supporting Argentina\u2019s claim, you should instantly look at the cost of it, the price. What would they demand from the country?\u201d<\/p>\n
Officially, until now, the US has both avoided talking about the archipelago\u2019s sovereignty and acknowledged that it was under British administration.<\/p>\n
Symbolism \u2013 or more?<\/p>\n
The University of Manchester\u2019s Clare explained that the archipelago\u2019s status has always been at the core of Argentinian identity, and will continue to be so until it is resolved.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that\u2019s been symbolic for successive Argentine governments because of just how significant the national cause is and what it means to Argentines,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s sort of a win for Argentina, not just on the football match, but a win for Argentina in the sense of sort of that type of redemption from the prior losses in terms of the Falklands conflict in 1982,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A spot in the final of the World Cup had just been secured, but Argentina\u2019s football players wanted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[14632,182369,591,218,59,57,58,1293,8911,50,229,217,56,54,55,6526],"class_list":["post-695853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-argentina","tag-border-disputes","tag-europe","tag-football","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-history","tag-latin-america","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-sport","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}