The Argentine Football Association has voted to forever remember the nation’s victory over England with a commemorative day.
July 15 will now be ‘National Football Teams Day’ to mark the 2-1 semi-final win at the World Cup earlier this summer.
Announcing their new special day, the AFA said: “The date was chosen to commemorate the Albiceleste’s great and historic victory over England in the semi-final of the 2026 World Cup.
“The team, led by Lionel Scaloni, were trailing the English side by a single goal but, thanks to goals from Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez, managed to turn the result around and send the whole country into a frenzy, with people flooding the streets in celebration.”
There will, however, be no special day to mark Argentina’s appearance in the subsequent final – which they lost to Spain without registering a single shot on target.
A number of players face disciplinary actions for disgracing themselves on the world stage with thuggish tantrums at full-time.
‘Like winning the World Cup’
Argentina used their victory over England to promote their claim of the Falkland Islands.
Players held a sign which read ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ at full-time, which translates to ‘The Falklands are Argentine’.
FIFA has already charged the South Americans with four breaches of conduct with punishment set to follow.
Leandro Paredes, Nahuel Molina and coach Roberto Ayala are facing separate assault charges after attacking Spain players after the final.
Nevertheless, the AFA continues to celebrate the World Cup as if the Albiceleste won it.
“I know that for Argentinians, we won the World Cup the moment we beat England, because that’s really what everyone wanted,” AFA president Claudio Tapia said during the recent AFA Sponsor Day.
3
Tapia added on Wednesday: “We are proud of our national team’s performance, and of the fact that they created that sense of epic invincibility – that nobody could beat us.”
We really must stress, again, their subsequent defeat to Spain in the final, which was widely celebrated as a victory for football.
Meanwhile, England legend Stuart Pearce wants the book thrown at Argentina as a result of their behaviour in the latter stages of the World Cup.
Although he doubts FIFA will deliver given their track record over the summer.
“What do you think they are going to do to the Argentinian players?” Pearce asked.
“Bear in mind, they upgraded Jarell Quansah’s suspension and a six-game suspension to a Qatari [Assim Madibo].
3
“So, a player, after the game has finished, throwing punches…
“If you set a precedent for banning a player for six games for an accidental tackle, which I think is ludicrous because he wasn’t a well-known player.
“Then bans for Ronaldo were quashed…”
