As Argentine players celebrated defeating England in the World Cup semifinal on Wednesday, two of them held up a handmade banner on the field in Atlanta. “Las Malvinas son argentinas,” it read — “The Malvinas are Argentine.”
The banner used another name for the Falkland Islands, a British territory in the South Atlantic that is also claimed by Argentina. The two countries fought a bloody war over the archipelago in 1982, in which Britain emerged victorious.
Displaying the banner on Wednesday risked punishment. FIFA, soccer’s governing body, does not allow political flags and banners. Argentina was fined after its players held up a banner with the same message in 2014.
That conflict has since hung heavy over almost every soccer match between England and Argentina, and is referenced in some of the most popular chants among Argentine fans.
Here’s what to know about the Falklands War:
The islands have been disputed for centuries.
The sparsely populated archipelago, with two main islands and hundreds of smaller ones, lies around 300 miles from the South American mainland. Since the late 1500s, English, French and Spanish expeditions settled there.
There were dueling claims over the islands for decades until the British established effective control and declared the Falklands a crown territory in the 1830s. Argentina’s claim on the islands dates to its declaration of independence from Spain in 1816, and it has never accepted Britain’s claim.
About 3,600 people live there, according to the latest census. In a 2013 referendum, the residents of the Falklands — which is mostly self-governing — voted overwhelmingly to remain a British territory. The British government argues that the people who live on the island should determine its status, but Argentina has contended in the past that the population was put there illegally and cannot decide the fate of the territory.
The British government controls foreign policy and defense, and maintains a military presence in the Falklands, including fighter aircraft.
After decades of failed talks, Argentina invaded.
The dispute between Argentina and England bubbled up repeatedly in the 20th century. Several rounds of talks were held, all inconclusive.
On April 2, 1982, Argentina sent several thousand troops to seize control of the islands. President Ronald Reagan had tried and failed to persuade the leader of Argentina’s military junta to call off the invasion.
Britain struck back with a major military deployment, including warships and submarines, eventually forcing the surrender of Argentine forces after 74 days. The war left more than 900 people dead, mostly Argentine soldiers.
The defeat was a humiliation for Argentina’s military junta. With its credibility in tatters, its leader, Leopoldo Galtieri, resigned days after Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of Britain announced the Argentine surrender.
The defeat left a lasting legacy in Argentina.
Argentina was defeated but it did not give up on the Falklands. Its claim to the territory is a part of the Argentine Constitution and the Falklands are frequently referenced in expressions of national identity, especially when it comes to soccer.
The 1982 World Cup began just as the war ended, with the champions Argentina facing Belgium. At the stadium, Argentina’s supporters threw thousands of pieces of paper proclaiming the Falklands as Argentine — the same message as the one on the banner in Atlanta on Wednesday.
Four years later, led by the superstar Diego Maradona, Argentina defeated England in the quarterfinal before going on to win the World Cup. The Falklands War weighed heavily on the match and added an edge to the hostility between the two sets of players and fans.
“Of course, before the match, we said that football had nothing to do with the Malvinas War but we knew a lot of Argentinian kids had died there, shot down like little birds,” Mr. Maradona wrote in his autobiography. “This was revenge.”
More than 40 years after the war, mention of the Falklands is proving unavoidable. Argentine fans and players have referenced the conflict in their songs and chants as they have celebrated victories at the tournament. After the victory over England, senior government officials got in on the act too.
There was a different message from the Falklands leadership. The governor’s house was lit up in red and white, the colors of the English flag, on Wednesday.
