The Argentine Football Association has declared 15 July a new national holiday — National Football Teams Day — to honour Argentina's dramatic 2-1 semi-final victory over England at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

England, chasing their first World Cup final since 1966, went ahead through an Anthony Gordon goal in the 55th minute in Atlanta. With Thomas Tuchel's side defending a narrow lead deep into the match, Argentina turned the game on its head with goals in the 85th and 92nd minutes to seal a crushing late win.

A 40-year echo

The result arrived exactly 40 years after Argentina's famous and deeply contentious quarter-final win over England at the 1986 World Cup — a fixture that carries enormous historical and political weight between the two nations.

The political dimension of this latest encounter grew sharper after the final whistle, when several Argentina players were seen celebrating while holding a banner reading "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" — translated as "The Falklands are Argentine."

The Falklands dispute

The Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory located in the south-west Atlantic Ocean some 300 miles off Argentina's east coast, remain the subject of an unresolved sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom.

In 1982, Argentina — then governed by a military junta under General Leopoldo Galtieri — invaded the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days, from April to June of that year, and claimed the lives of 655 Argentine servicemen and 255 British servicemen, along with three civilians from the islands themselves.

A 2013 referendum saw 99.8 percent of Falkland Islanders vote to remain a UK territory.

How the tournament ended

Argentina's World Cup journey ultimately ended in disappointment. Despite defeating England in the semi-finals, they fell 1-0 to Spain in the final. England, for their part, recovered to beat France 6-4 and claim third place.