Argentina kit request vs England granted as FIFA confirm strips for World Cup semi-final

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Argentina started the World Cup semi-final mind games by requesting to wear their second strip against England - even though they were already listed as the away team.

The holders are keen to call upon history, as despite their poor record against the Three Lions - they have won just three of their 14 meetings - two of those victories came in away colours.

La Albiceleste wore a blue strip when Diego Maradona's Hand of God and mesmerising solo goal effort eliminated England at the 1986 World Cup in

Mexico

City. They also wore dark blue when they beat the Three Lions on penalties in Saint-Etienne following a 2-2 draw in 1998.

The other two times

Argentina

have faced England at World Cups, they wore their sky blue home kit and were beaten: first in a fiery encounter in 1966 where there was a bizarre 10-minute pitch standoff and then in Sapporo in 2002 when

David Beckham

struck the winner from the penalty spot.

FIFA have now confirmed that England will wear white and Argentina will wear their vibrant dark blue and black away top in Atlanta tomorrow.

At this particular World Cup, Argentina have worn their home jersey in five of their six matches, all of which have been victories. They have one their away kit just once - the 3-1 triumph over

Jordan

in Dallas.

Meanwhile, England have worn their white home strip in five of their six games, winning four of those and drawing their second group fixture against

Ghana

in Boston.

They also boast a 100 per cent record in their red second kit, which they wore in the 2-0 win over

Panama

in New Jersey in their final Group L match. Incredibly, Argentina were never actually supposed to wear the blue kit that they wore against England in 1986.

After beating

Uruguay

in Puebla in the Round of 16, Carlos Bilardo's stars complained that their tops had become heavy amid the heat.

So much so, they decided they couldn't wear them again against England but Le Coq Sportif were unable to manufacture an alternative in time for the match.

National team delegate Ruben Moschella and an equipment manager headed out into Tepito to find a resolution and succeeded, sourcing two different sets of Le Coq Sportif tops.

Samples were brought back to camp but the squad remained undecided until Diego Maradona stepped in and settled on the blue ones. Thirty eight shirts were purchased but there was still no badge or numbers.

The crests from an old 1978 top were ripped off and stitched on by hand while the numbers were hastily pressed on individually with an iron as there was no industrial machinery to assist with the operation.

The result? One of the most iconic shirts in sporting history.

In 2022, former England midfielder Steve Hodge sold the famous No.10 top worn by Diego Maradona for over £7million 36 years on from their meeting at the Azteca Stadium.