* Decades after the Falklands war and Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal, the fixture is once again being discussed as far more than a game
By The Guardian’s Facundo Iglesia in Buenos Aires & Michael Savage in London
When Argentina’s national football team burst into the dressing room after-beating-Switzerland-in-the-FIFA-World-Cup-quarterfinals, they celebrated by singing The Fourth Star, the country’s unofficial World Cup anthem.
“For Malvinas, for Diego,” Lionel Messi and his teammates chanted, invoking both the Falkland Islands – known as Islas Malvinas in Argentina – and their football legend Diego Maradona.
The lyrics had already become ubiquitous in Argentina during this tournament, but they took on a new significance once it was confirmed that tonight’s FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-final would once again pit Argentina against England.
Almost four decades after Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal and his celebrated solo strike helped Argentina triumph in one of football’s most politically charged matches – which followed the 1982 Falklands War between the two countries – tonight’s semi-final is once again being discussed, in both Argentina and the UK, as far more than a game.
Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal followed up with a brilliant solo run minutes later to make it 2-0
“Behind the Argentina team, there are people who still carry pain, who don’t want to forget their history, and who want to win on the football pitch,” said Pablo ‘Palmito’ Quintana, the musician who wrote the song, explaining why he put ‘Malvinas’ into the lyrics.
Quintana, 30, was not alive during the war or during the 1986 quarter-finals, but agrees that these matches “are not just matches”.
“The 1986 match was a balm for everyone who had lived through the war,” said Aldo Leiva, a Falklands/Malvinas war veteran and Peronist congressman.
The Falkland War
“Football has rules and referees. There was none of that in the war. Many Argentines saw the victory – and the ‘hand of God’ – as a form of vindication because they believed Britain had acted outside the rules, especially by sinking the General Belgrano,” he said.
He was referring to the Argentine cruiser that was torpedoed and sunk by the British outside the agreed exclusion zone. The attack resulted in the deaths of 323 crew members.
Víctor Hugo Morales, a Uruguayan journalist whose live commentary of the 1986 match became part of Argentine folklore, said memories of that match were “reverberating” once again.
He said that, like the Argentine players today, Maradona himself “insisted it was just a football match [ahead of the game]. But deep down, there was no doubt the Malvinas war was in everyone’s hearts.”
“Argentina versus England has become a classic. Before 1986, it was just another match. Since then, it has carried a political and emotional weight that goes far beyond football,” said Morales, who famously described Maradona at the time as a “cosmic kite”.—Editing by Maravi Express
Knockout stages results
Round of 32
* South Africa 0-1 Canada
* Jordan 1-3 Argentina
* Brazil 2-1 Japan
* Germany 1(3)-1(4) Paraguay
* Netherlands 1(2)-1(3) Morocco
* Côte d’Ivoire 1-2 Norway
* France 3-0 Sweden
* Mexico 2-0 Ecuador
* England 1-2 DR Congo
* Belgium 3-2 Senegal
* USA 2-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina
* Spain 3-0 Austria
* Portugal 2-1 Croatia
* Switzerland 2-0 Algeria
* Australia 1(2)-1(4) Egypt
* Argentina 3-2 Cape Verde
* Colombia 1-0 Ghana
Round of 16
* Canada 0-3 Morocco
* Paraguay 0-1 France
* Brazil 1-2 Norway
* Mexico 2-3 England
* Portugal 0-1 Spain
* USA 1-4 Belgium
* Argentina 3-2 Egypt
* Switzerland 0(4)-0(3) Colombia
Quarterfinals
* Morocco 0-2 France
* Belgium 1-2 Spain
* Norway 1-2 England
* Argentina 3-1 Switzerland
Semifinals
France 0-2 Spain
Today, July 15
* England v Argentina (21h00)
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