Fifa to investigate whether Argentina broke rules over Falklands banner

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The Independent

16 July 2026

Fifa

will assess whether

Argentina

players broke rules after displaying a banner in support of their country’s claims to the

Falkland Islands

following their

World Cup

semi-final win over

England

It comes after

Downing Street called for an investigation into the celebrations

, which saw several

players wave a banner that read “

Las Malvinas son Argentinas”,

which translates to “The Falkland Islands are Argentinian”.

Argentina players display a banner which reads ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ (Reuters)

Argentina came from behind to beat

2-1 and the defending champions will play Spain in Sunday’s final.

A Fifa spokesperson said: “As is standard procedure, Fifa’s independent Disciplinary Committee is currently assessing the match reports and considering the relevant circumstances before deciding on potential further steps based on the Fifa Disciplinary Code.”

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) was

previously fined £20,000 by Fifa in 2014

after Argentina’s players held up a banner with the same message.

The governing body said the actions, which followed a friendly win over Slovenia, had breached rules on political action and team misconduct.

fans have chanted songs referencing the islands throughout this

Article 34.3 of Fifa’s rules prohibits the display of any political messages or slogans by players before, during or after a match.

Earlier on Thursday,

No 10 backed calls for an investigation into Argentina’s celebrations

and echoed remarks made earlier by Business Secretary Peter Kyle, who said the governing body should “thoroughly” probe the behaviour of the defending champions.

“The

might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are,” a Downing Street spokesperson said. “Our position is unchanged. Self-determination rests with the islanders. Our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.”

Political tensions between

and Britain over the territory have lingered for decades, after boiling over into a short but bloody war in 1982.

Buenos Aires has repeatedly claimed sovereignty over the islands, which are about 8,000 miles from the UK and 300 miles from mainland

Falklands War

veteran Simon Weston,

who was injured serving in the conflict

during the bombing of the RFA

Sir Galahad

, said the

players had “cheapened” their victory with the stunt

He told

that seeing the banner waved caused him “great sadness at the lack of professionalism, the lack of maturity of the Argentine players”.

“It also made me feel very sad for the Falkland Islanders, who have made it clear who they want to govern them. It’s not for others to tell people who they should align with. That’s called freedom; it’s called democracy,” he said.

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