England and Argentina’s epic rivalry is much deeper than just football

Even in the moments after England-Argentina was confirmed, there was fittingly a tension, that arose from different perspectives. It was almost comic. Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni immediately insisted “this is a football game and that is all”, at pretty much the same moment all of his players were singing in the dressing room about winning “for Las Malvinas”. It was the same with the “Muchachos” song that soundtracked the 2022 World Cup. There’s immediate mention of “the kids of Malvinas, that we’ll never forget”. “You can feel it,” Javier Zanetti said when speaking in Diego Simeone ’s documentary about the 1998 last-16 tie between the teams, Simeone himself adding that England-Argentina is “not related to football, but there’s something different about it.” This is a true World Cup epic, and there are only a handful of fixtures that compare. Maybe Brazil-Italy, for the colour and football history, if not real history. Brazil-Argentina, but that happens all the time. In that sense, not even England-Germany feels the same, since that can also happen in the Euros. It’s impossible not to be excited about Wednesday in Atlanta in a purely football sense , even if that’s because the football is invigorated by so much else. Similarly, if the real history fired the initial meetings , the matches themselves created a history of their own. The 1986 quarter-final at the Azteca is perhaps the centre-piece of World Cup lore, its most famous match. The shadow of Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ looms over England v Argentina (Bob Thomas/Getty) Diego Huerta, a football executive who oversaw Racing’s 2019 Argentine title win, describes that match as “the most important of my life – more than the World Cup finals”. “If Diego Maradona scored those goals against Belgium, it wouldn’t be the same.” And in the same way that Maradona’s legacy runs through this game, so many other echoes of the past surround it. England have already played at the Azteca in this run, returning memories to the fore. Jude Bellingham twice scored in that same end. England defeated Mexico 3-2 win at the Azteca Stadium – the venue for their iconic clash with Argentina in 1986 (PA Wire) Jude Bellingham scored twice at the Azteca Stadium emulating Maradona (AP) On Saturday, before both sides confirmed semi-final places, Antonio Rattin died. He’d been the central figure of the 1966 quarter-final, that provoked Sir Alf Ramsey to call the Argentina side “animals”. By that same evening, Simeone and David Beckham – the dramatis personae of 1998 – were embracing for a photo. Other emotions haven’t subsided like that, but instead got stronger. Mentions of the 1982 Falklands War feel more frequent than in 1998, even if that is partly propelled by social media and increasing nationalist inclinations, amid a worldwide rightward turn reflected by Argentine president Javier Milei. It isn’t coincidence the islands are back on the political agenda at the same time more drilling for oil is to proceed. The Falklands war still plays a huge role in the Argentine national consciousness (AFP via Getty Images) For the players, though, this has always been more visceral. Maradona himself explained exactly why in his book on 1986, ‘Touched by God’. He spoke about “a war in which 17-year-old boys had gone out to fight in Flecha tennis shoes, shooting pellets at the English who decided how many Argentine boys they would kill and how many they would live… Parents told their children about it, and those children will tell their children.” And now those children are playing, still surrounded by memories of the 649 who died and the 1,082 injured, most with minimal military training. The Argentine graveyard on the islands is described by Irish writer Paul Howard as “one of the saddest places you can visit”. Crosses for mere 15-year-old conscripts are draped in shirts of Argentina, Boca Juniors and River Plate amid a bleak expanse. Crosses for 15-year-old conscripts from the Falklands war in 1982 are draped in shirts of Argentina (Paul Howard) The Argentine graveyard on the Falkland Islands is described as "one of the saddest places you can visit" (Paul Howard) There are actually echoes of England-Germany here. Whereas the English largely see this as a football rivalry, the Argentines feel so much more. There’s quite an incongruity to English captain John Strong noting the water and game on making the first undisputed landing on the islands in 1690, and now these cold patches of land forming the emotional centre of what is a global media event. Maradona further spoke of the 1982 World Cup squad’s shock on reaching Spain and seeing the first uncensored coverage of the war, “a pile of legs and arms”. He also articulated more conflicted feelings, referring to “military sons of bitches” who “were just as guilty” as England. That was still distilled into a sense of “revenge”, as described by Hugo Victor Morales, the match's famous commentator. “All I wanted to do was honour the memory of the dead,” Maradona said. “To wipe England off the world map – the world football map, that is.” He described it as “like forcing them to surrender”. On scoring two of the most famous ever goals, that Jorge Valdano described as showing “the two sides of being an Argentine”, Maradona said he wanted to give the families “some consolation”. “And no one else – and I mean no one – is going to be able to do that.” On the other side, Glenn Hoddle’s autobiography relays his sense of Argentina having “an extra emotional edge”. “They were able to tap into something more visceral. We couldn’t fool ourselves into feeling those emotions.” Even Maradona’s third piece of ingenuity, the very description of the “Hand of God”, was informed by the memory. Maradona coined the phrase ‘Hand of God’ to describe the goal after the game (Getty) He spoke of a “predicament” at how to explain the goal in the press conference, only to think about “all the boys who had died”. “It really choked me up – and I thought that ‘God’s hand’ made me score… that God had also been thinking about all those boys slaughtered in the Malvinas, and he made that goal happen.” The very nature of the handball would of course transform the rivalry further, ensuring that England would now feel a different sense of grievance. An irony is that Argentina actually respected England for how they are “more noble and honest on the field”. Maradona described the 1986 game as “a gentleman’s match” where, “after the English kicked us, they would give us a hand to help us up”. Maradona would go on to inspire Argentina to lift the trophy in 1986 (Getty) That plays into an almost oedipal dynamic, in how aspects of Argentine society are deeply Anglophile. You can hear it in chants sung to tunes by Oasis. Argentina's post-colonial history honed a feeling of being the “most European” Latin American country – with England seen as a nation to emulate – that also fostered an elitism that sees many of their neighbours support England on Wednesday. It was why Ramsey’s description of “animals” in 1966 cut deep. Mark Biram’s book Mundiales described it as casting “a long colonial shadow over a moment already shot through with political meaning”. On the other side, England were subjected to the new Argentine aggression Celtic and Manchester United faced from clubs in the Intercontinental Cup, itself a response to the shock the country had received on coming out of international football isolation in the 1950s. Through that, a game against England was the one they’d been waiting for. Rattin wasted no time getting stuck in. The 1966 match, settled by Geoff Hurst, was characterised by kidney punches, hair-pulling, eye-pokes and all other provocations. Nobby Stiles is quoted in Duncan Hamilton’s Answered Prayers as saying the players – and even Ramsey – had been spat all over by their opponents. Afterwards, referee Rudolf Kreitlein was grabbed by the throat, with a chair hurled at the England dressing-room door in pursuit of a fight. When it wasn’t opened, it was urinated on. While Ramsey infamously stopped George Cohen swapping shirts, Rattin would talk of how “everything was arranged beforehand”. It is perhaps symbolic this all came from another misinterpretation, as the Argentina captain couldn’t understand Kreitlein’s initial caution. Some of this approach lingered in Simeone’s infamous provocation of Beckham in the 1998 epic, the English star falling into his trap to get sent off. Diego Simeone reacts after David Beckham flicks out at him in the 1998 World Cup match between Argentina and England (AFP/Getty) Beckham was shown a straight red card in a defining moment (Bob Thomas/Getty) “The Argentines were always good at that,” Beckham would tell Simeone’s documentary, alleging his hair was pulled. Simeone smiled. Again, the depths of emotion elevated the game as a brilliant spectacle, forming a contest almost the dramatic equal of 1986. After Michael Owen’s surge and Zanetti’s set-piece craft made it 2-2, it was settled on penalties. So much of that would be inverted in a decisive group game four years later. When Beckham scored a penalty after Owen dived, Argentine media sarcastically applauded the English for “finally learning”. Beckham got a small measure of redemption by scoring a penalty against Argentina at the 2002 World Cup (PA) And now, the two finally have another World Cup game, the biggest they’ve ever played in stage, since there’s a final place at stake. As to how any of this actually affects it, there’s a kinetic energy. Argentina fans in the US were celebrating England goals against Norway, because they want to knock them out. That’s after singing “who doesn’t jump is English”. Forward Jose Lopez spoke of the intention to “leave our lives on the field”. Huerta even says that “if I was told you are going to win against England and lose the final against France, I sign it”. From all that, it’s hard not to think of Hoddle’s quote, and whether England can really tap into “something deeper”. Argentina visibly play on emotion, but then England now have the emotion of being so close to a first World Cup final in 60 years. All that remains is “a football game”, as Scaloni put it. And so much more.