Argentina’s new Falklands insult as it files complaint over ‘illegal’ Royal Navy ship near islands after players held Malvinas banner in wake of World Cup win

Argentina has today accused the Royal Navy of ‘illegal’ movements in their territorial waters close to the Falkland Islands just before the World Cup semi-final.

Buenos Aires has chosen to further inflame tensions between the countries just hours after England’s heartbreaking 2-1 loss against Argentina in Atlanta last night.

At full time Argentina’s players carried a banner claiming the Falklands belong to them, despite Britain having sovereignty for almost 200 years and 99.8 per cent of its residents voting to remain a British Overseas Territory just over a decade ago.

Shortly after the game, the South American’s nation’s foreign ministry accused HMS Medway of making an ‘unconsulted and illegal’ passage through Argentine territorial waters, alleging a lack of proper notification.

Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said the Medway, which is based in the Falkland Islands, violated bilateral agreements in a July 13-dated diplomatic note of protest submitted to the United Kingdom’s embassy in Buenos Aires.

‘In diplomacy, work is not shouted about like goals, but we are driven by the same conviction: the pride of being Argentine and the constant defence of our interests,’ Quirno said in a post to X.

A full official complaint was released by the foreign ministry claiming the incident happened just before last night’s grudge match. The UK has said it was a brief accident as the ship headed back to the Falklands and happened eight days ago.

Britain said that the ‘innocent passage’ of HMS Medway near the Falklands was fully in accordance with UN laws in support of UK Antarctic survey operations.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said today: ‘Whilst I am disgusted at the behaviour of some Argentinian players last night, the most important thing to do is build up the Royal Navy quickly.’ 

HMS Medway is a Batch 2 River-class patrol vessel that is stationed on the Falkland Islands.  It was made the Royal Navy’s permanent guard ship in the region in January, taking over from HMS Forth. 

The vessel is tasked with maritime patrols and fishery protection.

An MOD spokesman said: ‘HMS Medway undertook a routine logistics visit to Punta Arenas on 5-8 July supporting British Antarctic Survey (BAS) operations, delivering essential stores and supplies to sustain scientific research in Antarctica.

‘The transit from the Falkland Islands to Chile and back was carried out via the most direct practicable route, considering operational safety and weather factors to ensure timely delivery.

‘This planned logistics activity reflected the UK’s ongoing commitment to world-leading polar science and maintaining the infrastructure that supports BAS operations’.

The animosity dates back principally to a ten-week war in 1982, when an Argentinian invasion of the Falklands was seen off by the British – at the cost of 907 lives.

It spilled over into football four years later when Maradona scored his infamous ‘hand of God’ goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final clash.

He used his fist to put the opening goal past England, allowing Argentina to win 2-1 and go on to claim the World Cup trophy.

Quirno earlier claimed the people living on the islands had been ‘artificially implanted’ – and that a referendum on British sovereignty was illegitimate.   

New footage has revealed how Argentina’s classless players shushed the crowd before hoisting a provocative banner claiming the Falkland Islands as their own after beating England in the World Cup semi-final.

Several of the team’s stars including talisman Lionel Messi are now facing calls to be banned from the final after celebrating with the incendiary and ‘idiotic’ sign.

Despite FIFA’s ban on political flags, Tottenham captain Cristian Romero, Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez and ex-Spurs midfielder Giovani Lo Celso celebrated with the controversial banner after the final whistle.

Captain and star player Messi was also dancing alongside it after his team beat the Three Lions 2-1 in Atlanta last night.

Tory shadow minister Andrew Griffith said: ‘Labour’s Chagos surrender has made us look weak, and British territory up for grabs. The Falklands are British. Whoever won the football. This idiotic display from the Argies was clearly against FIFA rules. They should be punished.’

He added: ‘FIFA fined our players for wearing poppies in 2016. They banned Spanish players in 2024. The Argentinian players’ display yesterday was disgusting and an insult to the Falkland Islanders. Why shouldn’t FIFA ban the Argie players from the final?’

Shocking footage taken from the stands showed the Argentinian team holding their fingers to their lips before raising the Falklands banner aloft. 

Lo Celso later carefully laid the banner on the pitch as the team taunted the English fans – hours after Argentina’s vice-president called England ‘usurping pirates’ and demanded the Falklands back.

UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Peter Kyle, said today it was ‘entirely inappropriate’ to wave the banner, praising England for acting with dignity in ‘real contrast with what we saw with the Argentina team’.

Scottish Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: ‘One thing needs to be made very clear this morning. The Falklands have never belonged to Argentina. And never will.’ 

FIFA has yet to comment, but the governing body is under huge pressure to punish Argentina for flouting its rules with an incendiary banner backing the country’s claim to the Falkland Islands. Manchester United and Spurs are being urged to punish Romero and Martinez.

Twelve years ago, the team carried the same banner at an international friendly and was fined just £20,000.

But there are growing calls for the players who carried the banner at a match of such magnitude – watched by an estimated 950 million people worldwide – to face tougher sanctions.

A total of 255 British servicemen were among the 907 people who died in the 1982 Falklands War, which saw UK armed forces retake the islands after an Argentine invasion.

Britain first landed on the uninhabited islands in 1690 and claimed them for the Crown in 1765. It has maintained a permanent presence there since 1833 – 47 years before Argentina became a fully unified state following its declaration of independence from Spain in 1816.

The last official referendum of Falkland Islanders was held in 2013, when 99.8 per cent of voters chose to remain a British Overseas Territory.

The offensive banner made a terrible night even worse for England. The team were leading 1-0 with just five minutes remaining.

Thomas Tuchel is facing calls to be sacked over his tactical decisions and defensive substitutions as England stood on the verge of reaching their first World Cup final since 1966.

The German manager insisted after the game that he had ‘no regrets’, but pundits and fans have turned on him after his team surrendered the lead when he took off speedy goalscorer Anthony Gordon and replaced the winger with defender Ezri Konsa.

Tuchel then took off Declan Rice for Nico O’Reilly and Reece James for Dan Burn in a further retreat 10 minutes later. Enzo Fernandez equalised with five minutes left and Lautaro Martinez won it for Argentina in stoppage time.

‘There are a million coaches after the game who know what to do better. If it doesn’t end up well, it’s easy to say that my decisions were wrong,’ said Tuchel. 

Some claimed he blamed the players as he added: ‘After the goal, we dropped back and waited too much, and the crosses and chances kept coming. I tried to help the team.

‘It doesn’t help if we don’t have the ball. We couldn’t get out, of course we wanted to go for the second goal.’

The ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ banner, which used the Argentine name for the Falklands – Las Malvinas – was held by members of the crowd and star player Lionel Messi was also seen dancing alongside it.

FIFA had banned flags referencing the Falklands from the stadium due to their political significance and the incident is likely to be reported to footballing authorities. 

On X, there were calls for Romero to be stripped of the Spurs captaincy and for Manchester United to sell Martinez for their part in the stunt.

Others called for the players to be suspended from the final, while acknowledging how unlikely that was in light of repeated accusations that FIFA and referees have been biased towards the Argentine team during the competition.

Previous financial sanctions have also done little to deter Argentine players from displaying slogans about the Falkland Islands in the past. 

In 2014, the Argentine Football Association was fined just £20,000 after its team displayed an almost identical ‘Las Malvinas Son Argentinas’ banner before a friendly against Slovenia.

Authorities are said to be treating this case more seriously as it is on the World Cup stage – in front of England and their fans. Plus, FIFA had banned such banners and threatened disciplinary action to those who broke the rules.

Tensions over the ownership of the Falklands, which are located 300 miles off the coast of Argentina but owned by Britain, had been a major talking point in the build-up to England’s semi-final. 

Argentina’s players were captured singing a chant in which they claimed the Falkland Islands were theirs in the aftermath of their last-16 victory over Egypt.

The country’s Foreign Minister, Pablo Quirno, also claimed the people living on the islands had been ‘artificially implanted’ – and that a referendum on British sovereignty was illegitimate.

And after Argentina’s victory, vice-president Victoria Villarruel posted on X that ‘it wasn’t just another match’ alongside a video of what appeared to be Argentine soldiers.

‘The Falklands are Argentine,’ she wrote.

‘They banned bringing them to the stadium and forgot that we carry them in our blood and our hearts.’

In the build-up to the game, Villarruel also branded England as ‘usurping pirates’. 

She wrote: ‘Tomorrow we play against the usurping pirates. This isn’t just another match. 

‘I’m not going to be politically correct or cold-hearted; against the English, it’s always something more.’

Falklanders were asked in a 2013 ballot whether they wanted the islands to remain under British rule, with 99.8 per cent voting yes.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper rejected the referendum attack and tried to cool tensions.

The animosity dates back principally to a ten-week war in 1982, when an Argentinian invasion of the Falklands was seen off by the British – at the cost of 907 lives.

It spilled over into football four years later when Maradona scored his infamous ‘hand of God’ goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final clash.

He used his fist to put the opening goal past England, allowing Argentina to win 2-1 and go on to claim the World Cup trophy.

During last night’s match, an impressive performance from the Three Lions at the start of the second half saw Antony Gordon put the side in front. 

But disastrous substitutions to send England into a defensive set-up would heartbreakingly backfire.

England were just less than six minutes away from their first World Cup final for 60 years when Enzo Fernandez scored the equaliser that denied them.

This was followed two minutes into injury time by a header from Lautaro Martinez, who secured Argentina’s place in Sunday night’s final against Spain in New York.

England fans complained about the conduct of the Argentinian fans after the game.

One supporter told the Daily Mail: ‘Obviously [we] were upset about the game, walking out the stadium, minding our own business.

‘Some guy, Argentina fan, comes up waving his flag, shoves it in our face, winding us up. 

‘You know obviously someone’s going to retaliate, right? But luckily we didn’t retaliate but there’s a lot of animosity.

‘When Argentina scored, an Argentinian guy next to me took his shirt off, waving it, slapping it in my face, absolutely disgusting.

‘Disgusting behaviour from the Argentinian fans, absolutely disgusting.

‘Tonight there’s not enough cops to police all of this. I’m telling you right now it’s going to kick off later in bars and stuff for sure, 100 per cent.’

It was England’s fourth-ever appearance in the final four of a World Cup, making this the most high-stakes match since 1966.

But in a story familiar to long-suffering fans, they just couldn’t keep ahead at the final whistle.

The royals were among those quick to congratulate the team for their impressive run to the semis, with King Charles III taking to social media and writing: ‘Commiserations to Harry and the team.

‘While you Three Lions may be licking your wounds today, you remain the pride of a nation – and will rise again.’

And outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to England’s ‘passion’ and ‘energy’.

Writing on X, he said: ‘Gutted. Tonight wasn’t the result we all hoped for, but this England team has given it their all.

‘The passion and energy they’ve shown representing the badge has made us all proud.’