England face Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals in Atlanta on Wednesday, the first meeting between the two teams since a friendly in Geneva in 2005.
Argentina will wear second strip in World Cup semi-final against England
Argentina started their World Cup semi-final mind games by requesting to wear a second strip against England, even though they were already listed as the away team.
Despite a lackluster record against the Three Lions, the holders will be hoping to evoke some history as they have won just three of their 14 meetings, with two of those wins coming away.
La Albiceleste wore the blue belt when they defeated England at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico City with the divine hand of Diego Maradona and a mesmerizing solo goal. They also wore dark blue when they defeated the Three Lions on penalties at Saint-Etienne in 1998.
Argentina lost the remaining two World Cup matches against England wearing a sky blue home kit. The first time was in 1966, when there was a tense 10-minute stalemate on the pitch, and in 2002 in Sapporo, when David Beckham scored the winning goal from the penalty spot.
FIFA has announced that England will wear white away tops tomorrow in Atlanta, while Argentina will wear bright dark blue and black away tops.
Argentina wore their home uniform in five of their six matches at this World Cup, all of which they won. They only wore away uniforms once, a 3-1 win over Jordan in Dallas.
Meanwhile, England wore a white home strip in five of their six matches, winning four of them and drawing their second group game against Ghana in Boston.
They also boasted a 100 per cent record in the red second kit they wore in their final Group L game, a 2-0 win over Panama in New Jersey. Incredibly, Argentina were never actually supposed to wear the blue kits they wore against England in 1986.
After defeating Uruguay in Puebla in the round of 16, Carlos Bilardo’s star players complained that their tops had become heavier in the heat.
Argentina wore makeshift blue uniforms against England in 1986.
As a result, it was decided that it could not be worn again against England, but Le Coq Sportif were unable to produce a replacement in time for the match.
National team principal Ruben Moschella and the equipment manager headed to Tepito to find a solution and were successful in sourcing two different sets of Le Coq Sportif tops.
The sample was taken back to camp, but the team remained undecided until Diego Maradona intervened and decided on a blue sample. Thirty-eight shirts were purchased, but no badges or numbers yet.
The emblems on the old 1978 tops were stripped and sewn on by hand, but since there was no industrial machinery to assist in the process, the numbers were hastily pressed into place individually with an iron.
result? One of the most iconic shirts in sports history.
In 2022, former England midfielder Steve Hodge sold Diego Maradona’s famous No. 10 jersey for more than £7 million, 36 years after they met at the Azteca Stadium.
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