\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t The symbolic weight of the 2026 World Cup semifinal between Argentina and England is reigniting political tensions, exposing sharp differences between President Javier Milei and Vice President Victoria Villarruel, once allies and now political rivals.<\/p>\n
While Malvinas War veterans and Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni sought to separate the match from politics and the still-open wound of the islands\u2019 dispute, Villarruel embraced the symbolism.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday night, hours before kickoff, the vice president \u2014 whose father was a Malvinas War veteran \u2014 wrote on X that Argentina would be playing \u201cagainst the usurping pirates,\u201d referring to the English and Britain\u2019s continued control of the Malvinas Islands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not just another game. I will not be politically correct or leave my passion behind. When we face the English, there always is something else,\u201d Villarruel wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s Malvinas, it\u2019s Diego, it\u2019s Leo\u2019s last cup and it\u2019s stopping the invaders,\u201d she added, quoting lyrics from a new Argentina football anthem that pays tribute to Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. \u201cWe will claim what is ours until our last breath!\u201d<\/p>\n
Ma\u00f1ana jugamos contra los piratas usurpadores.
\nNo es un partido m\u00e1s.
\nNo voy a ser pol\u00edticamente correcta ni pecho fr\u00edo, contra los ingleses siempre es algo m\u00e1s. Es Malvinas, es el Diego, es la \u00faltima de Leo y es pararle el carro a los invasores.
\n\u00a1Aguante Argentina! Porque\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2014 Victoria Villarruel (@VickyVillarruel) July 15, 2026 Villarruel\u2019s remarks underscore how heavily charged an Argentina-England match remains beyond football, evoking memories of the 1982 Malvinas War, Argentina\u2019s longstanding sovereignty claim over the islands, the British invasions of Buenos Aires in the early 19th century and, of course, the iconic 1986 World Cup quarterfinal between the two nations.<\/p>\n
You may also be interested in: A crushed flag, the hand of god, and a \u2018stupid\u2019 boy: A history of Argentina v England<\/p>\n
Milei\u2019s stance Presidential spokesperson Adri\u00e1n Ravier sought to lower the temperature on Tuesday while reaffirming Argentina\u2019s sovereignty claim over the Malvinas.<\/p>\n
Milei has repeatedly praised former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who led the United Kingdom during the 1982 war and ordered the military campaign that expelled Argentine forces from the islands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the conflict, British forces also sank the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano, killing more than 300 Argentine servicemen.<\/p>\n
Asked during a press conference whether Milei keeps a photograph of Thatcher in his office, Ravier said the president\u2019s previous comments about the late British leader had been \u201ctaken out of context.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat he values about Margaret Thatcher has to do with her stabilization plan, lowering inflation and part of her economic ideology,\u201d Ravier said. \u201cThis does not invalidate the fact that Milei is trying to recover the Malvinas every day, with great leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Malvinas are clearly Argentine. That is what the president believes,\u201d Ravier added.<\/p>\n
Milei has previously said he \u201cadmires\u201d Thatcher, calling her \u201cbrilliant\u201d and saying he feels \u201cvery identified with her in historical terms.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a war, and we ended up losing. That doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t acknowledge that those on the other side were people who did their jobs well. And I don\u2019t just admire Margaret Thatcher \u2014 I also admire Ronald Reagan in the United States. So what\u2019s the problem?\u201d he told the BBC in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The BBC journalist who interviewed him at the time reported seeing a photograph of Thatcher in his office.<\/p>\n
During Tuesday\u2019s press conference, Ravier was also asked why the Argentine government had not publicly responded after a British offshore patrol vessel was reportedly detected sailing through waters under Argentine jurisdiction without prior notification to national authorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno would address the matter shortly.<\/p>\n
You may also be interested in: What do Argentines do to bring luck at the World Cup?<\/p>\n
Editorial disclaimer: Although the UK refers to the territory as the \u201cFalkland Islands,\u201d Argentina strongly contests this name. The Buenos Aires Herald uses \u201cMalvinas\u201d to refer to the islands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The symbolic weight of the 2026 World Cup semifinal between Argentina and England is reigniting political tensions, exposing sharp differences between President Javier Milei and Vice President Victoria Villarruel, once allies and now political rivals. While Malvinas War veterans and Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni sought to separate the match from politics and the still-open wound […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":90771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,59,2732,339],"tags":[89,86,23304,3576],"class_list":["post-90770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-javier-milei","category-politics","category-victoria-villarruel","category-world-cup-2026","tag-javier-milei","tag-politics","tag-victoria-villarruel","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}