Argentina fans who attended the World Cup semi-final against England have been heavily criticized for disrupting the national anthem.
Argentina fans booed England’s national anthem before the World Cup semi-finals. (Image: FIFA via Getty Images)
Argentina fans booed England’s national anthem before the World Cup semi-finals and were branded “disgusting”. “God Save the King” drew jeers from attendees in Atlanta and sparked outrage on social media.
The much-anticipated semi-final dominated the headlines even before a ball was kicked, given the history between the two countries on and off the pitch. In the stands, Argentine supporters made their feelings known as the national anthem began, and when the opponent’s national anthem was played, Three Lions supporters retaliated by booing themselves.
The pre-match conversation was once again dominated by the two locked horns for the first time since 2002, when David Beckham’s penalty made the difference. The match’s historical background overshadowed the preparations for the 1982 Falklands War, with Argentina’s players and staff singing about the islands after their quarter-final victory over Switzerland.
England were given the lead by singing the national anthem, but it was drowned out, drawing a negative reaction from the Argentina squad in Atlanta and a flurry of angry backlash from social media users. One user commented: “These (sic) Argentinian fans are sick of singing and booing the English national anthem so loudly. Zero respect.”
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He added: “Absolutely disgusting Argentine fans who don’t respect the national anthem. England should slam them.”
One social media user was outraged by the pre-match antics, writing: “Argentina fans, shame on you, this is disgusting.”
“Argentina has the most disgusting fans on the planet,” one said boldly.
England supporters returned the favor with some jeers. The game was deemed “high risk” by the FBI and local officials, with a lack of segregation at the stadium and the threat of clashes in the stands.
Ahead of the match, footage of Union Jack flags being lit on the outskirts of Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires was widely shared on social media by supporters.
This comes after Argentina’s players, who reached the semi-finals last week, sang about defeating England “for the Falklands”. However, head coach Lionel Scaloni refused to get drawn into politics before the game.
Argentina national team players singing about the Falkland Islands (Image: X/AFASeleccionEN)
“The reality is this is a football game. You can’t mix things up, especially out of respect for what happened all those years ago,” he said.
“It’s a very sad time in our history and there’s not much we can do about it, that’s the reality.
“This is a football game. There’s no getting around that. Things are happening in other parts of the world and we’re criticizing the existence of war, so for me to start saying this is more than a football game…seems crazy to me.
“Of course we remember those people, but this is a football game and we shouldn’t confuse the two.”
It was a heated match on the pitch, with players getting into a melee after just three minutes. Tensions continued to rise throughout the first half as both teams were unable to separate.
At the interval, Elliott Anderson and Lisandro Martinez were shown cards, each receiving a yellow card. Two Premier League stars who are set to go head-to-head as rivals in the Manchester derby have both been cautioned for sarcastic challenges.
