England vs Argentina: A match made in football heaven

Time and again during the press conference he made the same point about his team’s upcoming clash against England: “The message is this is a football game. That is what I can say.”

The plea by Argentina’s manager, Lionel Scaloni, to the assembled journalists – and by extension, a billion or more people worldwide who will be tuning in to the World Cup semifinal on Wednesday in Atlanta between Argentina and England – to focus on the football and leave history and geopolitics aside was laudable.

Laudable, but utterly futile.

I have previously written about the joy of reading too much into this quadrennial tournament. But even for scribblers like me, who fish for allegories and symbolism in every World Cup match, this encounter feels truly ordained.

The first sign was the revelation that Argentina’s preternatural striker, Lionel Messi, will play England for the first time. Messi has been capped more than 200 times since his first appearance for La Albiceleste in 2005. But never against England – who knew!?

Many will find suggestions of the divine here, not least because the gods have given this rivalry a lot of attention over the years.

Messi’s closest forebear in the beautiful game is Diego Maradona. As god-like as footballers get, the late Argentinian had street shrines dedicated to him from Buenos Aires to Naples while he was still in his twenties.

Maradona credited “God” for guiding his hand-ball flick past English goalkeeper Peter Shilton’s outstretched arm for his opener in Argentina’s quarterfinal victory over England at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico during the 1986 World Cup.

The most infamous goal in world cup history. It was followed exactly four minutes later by the most famous.

Maradona’s “goal of the century”, which saw no fewer than five English outfield players left for dead by the stout midfielder before he rounded Shilton and slotted the ball into the net, immortalised him in the minds of football fans worldwide.

Except in England. For the nativist chunk of English supporters – and the tabloids that fuel their worst instincts – cheating Maradona and Argentina now occupied a special place in hell.

Unlike Messi, whose personality off the pitch appears uncannily dull, Maradona was political. He railed, often bitterly and wild-eyed, against “oppressors” of all kinds. Former imperial powers like Britain were a frequent target of his ire.

After defeating England and going on to win the World Cup, Maradona later wrote that “it was as if we defeated a country, not a football team... This goal was our revenge”.

By which he meant revenge for Argentina’s defeat in the Falklands Islands at the hands of the Royal Navy four years earlier.

Known as Las Malvinas in Argentina, the remote archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean lies about 500km east of its southern coast. Britain kicked out the local Argentinian administration nearly 200 years ago and stayed.

In 1982, following a raid by Argentina to assert its historic claim on the Falklands, hundreds of Argentinian soldiers were killed when British forces retook the islands.

That wound still festers in Argentina. If you are caught wearing the Union Jack or the St George’s Cross (England’s flag) in some football bars, good luck.

Paintings and murals that commemorate the Falklands War can be found across the nation’s capital. Retaking the islands has become something of a national obsession. Many Argentinians will feel that victory on Wednesday will somehow bring them one step closer.

A new villain

Twelve years after Maradona broke the Three Lions’ hearts in Mexico, a chance for redemption arrived in the first knockout round of the 1998 World Cup in France.

On cue, the British tabloids lowered themselves to the occasion. The Daily Mirror carried the pre-match headline “Achtung! Surrender”. Jingoistic hacks demanded that England avenge their “stolen” quarterfinal at the Azteca.

The stage was set.

As it happened, the tabloid press – indeed all of England – found a new villain: David Beckham. His petulance and naivete in flailing out against Argentinian defender Diego Simeone – who later conceded to goading Beckham into the foul – cost him a red card and possibly a victory for England, who lost on penalties.

His “unforgivable” act sent the tabloids into a frenzy. Perhaps best remembered is another headline by The Daily Mirror: “10 Heroic Lions, One Stupid Boy.”

From Golden Boy to Stupid Boy, Beckham would later recall the period as the worst in his life. He received death threats. An effigy of him was hung in a South London pub. Clinically depressed, he wondered if his career might be over, done in by yet more Argentinian sorcery.

Milei milieu

Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, is typical of his countrymen in his love of football and adulation of Messi. But it is not surprising that when playing football as a goalkeeper in his younger days, he was known for making bizarre contortions on the pitch, seemingly to amuse spectators. In almost all respects, Milei is radically unconventional.

Milei does not fancy himself as a sorcerer, but he is known to enlist the services of various oddballs who he believes are. Reportedly, their primary role is to help him communicate with his dead dog Conan, his cloned dogs, and God.

It is unclear whether they have been tasked with swinging the semifinal in Atlanta in La Albiceleste’s favour.

In fact, some Argentinians on social media, where the hashtag “for the Falklands” has gone viral in advance of the match, have questioned if Milei will even be supporting Argentina.

Milei is a great admirer of the late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher – primarily for her economic philosophy and leadership style – who launched the military operation to retake the islands. When first elected president in 2023, he faced hostile criticism at home for his evident disinterest in pushing for the return of the islands.

But in the weeks before the start of the World Cup, Milei changed his tune, insisting that the Falklands “were, are and will always be Argentine”.

In this he may have an ally in US President Donald Trump, with whom he has a genuinely great relationship. Trump’s antipathy towards the current UK government is no secret. He has avoided weighing in directly on the issue of sovereignty over the Falklands, though confidential diplomatic memos appear to suggest that he has considered withdrawing support for the UK position over the islands’ future, as punishment for its lack of support for US military action in Iran.

Neither Trump nor Milei are expected in the stands on Wednesday in Atlanta, but you never know. If they do pitch, sure as eggs they will sit together. They may even cheer for the same team.

Beckham’s Messi miracle

One person who will definitely be there is Beckham. Perhaps no one has been captured more times on TV screens roaring England on during this World Cup than its former captain.

Beckham recovered from the ignominy of his red card in 1998. He scored a penalty against Argentina in the World Cup four years later, which helped knock England’s nemesis out of the tournament.

But Beckham did more than that. Much more. After retiring as a player, he became arguably the most successful football entrepreneur in the world. Beckham used a $25-million option in his last playing contract in America to buy Inter Miami football club, drive its entry into the MSL (Major League Soccer) and then build it into a global brand. The team won the MLS title in 2025 and the club is now valued at more than $1.2-billion.

All this success came on the back of Beckham’s surprisingly astute knack for business – and one short Argentinian genius, who he brought into the squad a few years earlier.

Beckham has taken obvious pleasure in seeing his Inter Miami talisman, Messi, continue to perform miracles on the pitch for Argentina this World Cup.

He clearly adores Messi, but just as clearly adores England even more.

For all the fraught history and politics around this match on Wednesday – England and Argentina, the ghost of Maradona – there is some poetry, too.

And just maybe, something more. DM

In his essay for Daily Maverick on the 2018 World Cup eight years ago, Dr Terence McNamee was spectacularly wrong in suggesting that it would probably be Lionel Messi’s last tournament. But he proved oddly prescient in predicting in the same essay that US President Donald Trump would somehow still be around to try to spoil the party in 2026.