Argentina players' celebrations following their 2-1 victory over England sparked widespread controversy after several of them held up a banner reading "Malvinas Argentinas", a move that is likely to prompt FIFA to open an investigation due to its regulations prohibiting political messages inside stadiums.
Argentina defeated England 2-1 in the semi-final to advance to the final after a comeback that turned a deficit into a narrow victory in a dramatic fashion at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
After the match, Argentina's Giovani Lo Celso was seen holding the banner alongside Nicolás Otamendi, before it was briefly placed on the pitch surface as the players celebrated with fans following the thrilling victory that earned the Argentine national team a place in the final for the seventh time in their history.
The Falkland Islands are known in Argentina as the "Malvinas" — an archipelago under British administration located off Argentina's eastern coast. The sovereignty dispute has remained unresolved since the 1982 war, which ended with Argentina's surrender following the deaths of 255 British soldiers, 649 Argentine soldiers, and 3 civilians.
Ahead of the match, efforts were made to keep the encounter free of any political dimensions, with Argentine veterans urging that the fixture not be treated as an act of "revenge", while stressing that the occasion represented an opportunity to remind the world of Buenos Aires's continued claim to sovereignty over the islands.
FIFA regulations prohibit the display of slogans or banners of a political, religious, or personal nature inside stadiums, and the incident is expected to be reviewed.