The Argentine Football Association, external has announced 15 July will be ‘National Football Teams Day’ to mark Argentina’s 2026 World Cup semi-final victory over England on that date.
Bidding for their first World Cup final since 1966, England took the lead in a tense affair in Atlanta through a 55th-minute Anthony Gordon finish.
But with Thomas Tuchel’s side sitting deep, Argentina struck in the 85th and 92nd minutes to break English hearts and claim a 2-1 win.
The victory came 40 years after Argentina’s previous big World Cup win over England in the controversial quarter-final victory at the 1986 tournament.
After Argentina’s latest win the political tensions surrounding the fixture were fuelled as some of their players celebrated while holding a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, which translates as “The Falklands are Argentine”.
The Falklands, a British Overseas Territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean, remain the subject of a sovereignty dispute between the UK and Argentina.
Argentina, ruled at the time by a military junta led by General Leopoldo Galtieri, invaded the islands, situated 300 miles off Argentina’s east coast, in 1982.
The conflict, which lasted for 74 days between April and June 1982, led to the deaths of 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen. Three people from the islands also died.
In a 2013 referendum, 99.8% of Falkland Islanders voted to remain a UK territory.
Argentina went on to lose 1-0 to Spain in the 2026 final, while England beat France 6-4 to claim third place.
