Players from Argentina's football team held up a banner referencing the contested Falklands Islands after they beat England in this morning's FIFA World Cup semi-final.
The reigning champions beat England 2-1 in Atlanta, mounting a comeback late in the second half after conceding just after the break. They move on to Monday's final, where they will face Spain.
As players celebrated on the pitch after the game, they held up a sign that read "Las Malvinas son Argentinas", which translates as "The Falklands are Argentine". It was not known how the banner made its way onto the field.
Lisandro Martínez and Giovani Lo Celso held up the banner and waved to fans in the stadium.
The banner refers to the dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands, which are found about 500km off the southern tip of South America.
The islands are a British overseas territory, but Argentina also claims them on historical and geographical grounds.
In 1982, Argentine forces invaded and occupied the archipelago, claiming the act was done to reclaim its own territory. It sparked a 74-day war, as the United Kingdom dispatched a task force to retake the Islands.
The conflict led to the deaths of 655 Argentinian and 255 British servicemen. Three Falkland Islanders also died. The war ended with Argentina's surrender.
While the two countries have since re-established diplomatic relations, sovereignty remains a point of contention, with Argentina still claiming the Falklands as part of its territory. A 2013 sovereignty referendum saw Falkland Islanders vote overwhelmingly to remain a British territory.
The war is still a deeply emotive issue in Argentina, with the phrase used on the banner displayed in public places across the country.
FIFA's stadium code of conduct bans “banners, flags, flyers, apparel and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive, and/or discriminatory nature”.
In 2014, Argentina was fined by FIFA after its players displayed a similar banner.
Following today's game, images of the war had been invoked in Argentina.
On X, Vice President Victoria Villarruel wrote, "It wasn't just another match", alongside a video that appeared to show Argentine soldiers.
Following Argentina's quarter-final victory over Switzerland, players could be heard chanting: "For the Malvinas, for Diego [Maradona] and for Leo [Messi]’s last one”.
Midfielder Rodrigo De Paul said about the chants: We sing songs about our Malvinas heroes, mainly to remember them, but we have to understand that it’s a football match and that the Malvinas have to be discussed elsewhere.
"What happened was an atrocity, and we always remember the fallen, but what we want is to win this match to get to the final.”
Watch the FIFA World Cup final at 7am on Monday, July 20, live and free on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+
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