“The Malvinas Islands are Argentine.”
The message, hastily painted on a piece of cloth from a hotel sheet, was secretly brought into the stadium where Argentina was facing England for the semifinals of the men’s football World Cup on July 15 by an Argentine fan and dropped onto the field for the national team’s players to pick up and celebrate with after their win.
It revived a centuries-old debate.
Who do the Malvinas — or Falklands, as the United Kingdom refers to them — belong to?
Photos and videos of Argentina’s footballers holding the banner went viral on social media and appeared on the front pages of news outlets around the world after the match. The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) had banned political banners and messages inside the stadium.
