The Argentina–England football rivalry is a sports rivalry between the national football teams of Argentina and England. Exacerbated by historical political tensions, it is widely considered one of the most intense rivalries in international sport. Fixtures between the two nations, including friendly matches, are frequently characterised by notable and controversial incidents involving both players and fans.
The rivalry is unusual in that it is an intercontinental one; typically such footballing rivalries exist between countries that are close to one another, for example England–Ireland or Argentina–Brazil. England is regarded in Argentina as one of the major rivals of the national football team, matched only by Brazil, Germany and Uruguay. The rivalry is seen as equal in England – matched by rivalries with Ireland, Scotland, France, and Germany teams – partly due to non-footballing events, especially the 1982 Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom.
The rivalry emerged across several games during the second half of the twentieth century. It was driven by various controversial incidents, particularly those in the games played between the teams at the 1966, 1986, 1998 and 2026 FIFA World Cups. Overall, England holds the edge in the rivalry in official matches, with six victories, to four by Argentina. In the World Cup, England and Argentina have a split head-to-head record, with three English victories (in 1962, 1966 and 2002) to Argentina's three (1986, the 1998 shoot-out victory and 2026). In knockout stage matches, Argentina leads the head-to-head record against England 3–1. Argentina eliminated England from the World Cup in 1986, 1998 and 2026, while England did the same to Argentina only in 1966.
Early history
British influence on Argentine football
In the latter half of the 19th century, the Argentine capital Buenos Aires had a large expatriate British community of some 40,000 people. As in many other parts of the world, football was introduced to Argentina by the British. The first recorded football match played in Argentina was organized by the Buenos Aires Cricket Club in Palermo, Buenos Aires, on 20 June 1867, and played between two teams of British railway workers, the White Caps and the Red Caps"Early History of Football in Argentina'" – RSSSF (it was common in the early days of football for teams to be distinguished by caps rather than jerseys).
The so-called "father of Argentine football" was a Glaswegian schoolteacher, Alexander Watson Hutton, who first taught football at the St. Andrew's Scots School in Buenos Aires in the early 1880s. On 4 February 1884,"Alumni Athletic Club" – RSSSF he founded the Buenos Aires English High School, where he continued to instruct the pupils in the game.Buenos Aires English High School In 1898, Alumni Athletic Club, a football team formed by the BAEHS students, was established. Alumni would be the most successful team of Argentina, winning a total of 22 titles until it was dissolved in 1913.Alumni: en el nombre del fútbol on Clarín, 21 April 2003] Moreover, Alumni also became the first local team to defeat a British side, South Africa (mostly composed of British–origin players) 1–0 at Sociedad Sportiva Argentina, which set up a landmark in Argentine football.A cien años de un triunfazo on Clarín, 24 June 2006
In 1891, Hutton established the Association Argentine Football League.Argentina 1891 – RSSSF Five clubs competed but only one season of games was played. A new league, The Argentine Association Football League, was formed 21 February 1893 and would eventually become the Argentine Football Association (AFA). In these early days of football in Argentina, nearly all of the players and officials were expatriate Britons or of British extraction, and the oldest football clubs in Argentina such as Rosario Central, Newell's Old Boys and Quilmes A.C., were all founded by British expatriates.
In the 20th century, several British football clubs tours to South America contributed to the spread and development of football in the region. The first club to tour on the region was Southampton in 1904, followed by several teams (mainly from England although some Scottish clubs also visited South America) until 1929 with Chelsea being the last team to tour.
During those 25 years of tours, British teams' performances were decreasing while the South American squads' style of playing improved. Indeed, Southampton won all of their matches in 1904 with 40 goals scored in 1904 while Chelsea was defeated eight times (over 16 games played) in their 1929 tour.South American Trip of Chelsea FC 1929 by Pablo Ciullini on RSSSF
As the popularity of the game increased, the British influence on the game waned and by 1912, the Association was renamed "Asociación del Fútbol Argentino". The British influence on the game in Argentina, however, shows in the continued use of terms such as "corner" and "wing" rather than their Spanish translations. The names of several famous teams in Argentina are also English in origin, such as River Plate, or influenced by the language, such as Boca Juniors, due to the British prevalence on the sport and the mandatory use of English language.
In the 1940s the Argentine Football Association used English referees in its competitions.
First matches
The national teams had met before their 1966 clash – Argentina were the first team other than Scotland to play England at Wembley Stadium in 1951 when the inaugural full international match between the sides ended with a 2–1 victory for England. They also played two matches in 1953 in Buenos Aires. The first, a 3–1 victory for Argentina, was considered an unofficial international by England, who fielded a second-string team dubbed an FA XI. Although this match appears in some records citing Argentina's list of official internationals, it is not listed as a full international by either the AFA or FIFA.Argentine – England list of matches on FIFA.com Nevertheless, the Argentines consider it to be their first ever victory over England.Día del futbolista argentino on AFA website Afterwards, one Argentine politician stated that "we nationalised the railways, and now we have nationalised football!"
The second 1953 international was an official match for both teams:El partido "invisible" by Oscar Barnade, 17 May 2017 England playing with a stronger line-up involving Alf Ramsey, Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney; Argentina sticking with the same line-up used in the first match. The game, however, was abandoned after 23 minutes due to torrential rain, with a 0–0 scoreline.ARGENTINA NATIONAL TEAM ARCHIVE – RSSSF The match also set a record of 91,000 spectators, the highest attendance for a football match in Argentina until then. Argentina and England next met in the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile, where England's 3–1 victory in the group stage led to Argentina's exit from the tournament. Argentina's first victory over England in a full international occurred in a 1–0 win in June 1964, during the Taça das Nações friendly tournament in Brazil.
Comparison in major tournaments Key Denotes which team finished better in that particular competition. DNQ: Did not qualify. DNP: Did not participate. TBD: To be determined.
TournamentNotes1930 FIFA World Cup2ndDNP1934 FIFA World Cup10th1938 FIFA World CupWithdrew1950 FIFA World Cup10th1954 FIFA World Cup7th1958 FIFA World Cup13th11th1962 FIFA World Cup9th8thIn the group stage, England defeated Argentina 3–1.1966 FIFA World Cup5th1stTournament hosted by England. In the quarterfinals, England defeated Argentina 1–0.1970 FIFA World CupDNQ8th1974 FIFA World Cup8thDNQ1978 FIFA World Cup1stTournament hosted by Argentina.1982 FIFA World Cup11th6th1986 FIFA World Cup1st8thIn the quarterfinals, Argentina defeated England 2–1. This match was known for Maradona's Hand of God goal and few minutes later the Goal of the Century, also by Maradona.1990 FIFA World Cup2nd4th1994 FIFA World Cup7thDNQ1998 FIFA World Cup6th9thIn the Round of 16, Argentina defeated England 4–3 on penalties when the match ended 2–2 after extra time.2002 FIFA World Cup18th6thIn the group stage, England defeated Argentina 1–0.2006 FIFA World Cup6th7th2010 FIFA World Cup5th13th2014 FIFA World Cup2nd26th2018 FIFA World Cup16th4th2022 FIFA World Cup1st6th2026 FIFA World Cup2nd3rdIn the semifinals, Argentina defeated England 2–1.2030 FIFA World CupTBD
Crucial moments
1966 World Cup In spite of all of this history, it was not until the 1966 FIFA World Cup, held in and eventually won by England, that the rivalry picked up the sometimes bitter and fierce edge that it retains. The two teams met in the quarter-finals of the tournament, a game referred to in Argentina as el robo del siglo ("the theft of the century")Mundial de Inglaterra 1966 – EL ROBO DEL SIGLO that England won 1–0 thanks to a goal from striker Geoff Hurst, disputed by the Argentines due to a claimed offside.Mundial de Inglaterra 1966 – INGLATERRA A LA SEMIFINAL, ¿ALGUIEN LO PODÍA PREVENIR?
The game, however, was particularly noted for the sending off of Argentina captain Antonio Rattín after receiving his second caution of the game. The Argentines considered the second caution to be unfair, including Rattín himself, who had to be escorted from the pitch by police as he refused to leave the pitch. Rattín was cautioned at the start of the match for a lunge on Bobby Charlton. Rattín then fouled Geoff Hurst and received another caution (the use of yellow/red cards would not be adopted until the next World Cup in Mexico) for arguing with the referee for a teammate's foul.
It was reported in Argentina that the West German referee, Rudolf Kreitlein, said that he had sent off Rattín because he did not like how he had looked at him,Mundial de Inglaterra 1966 – EL RATA CONTRA EL MUNDO while British newspapers cited the official as having given the reason as "violence of the tongue", despite the referee speaking no Spanish. Rattín's intention appeared to have been to speak with the German referee, as according to the Argentines, he was ruling in favour of the English team. Rattín made a visible signal showing his captain's armband and intention to call a translator.Rattín live interview on the Fox Sport Latin America channel on 30 March 2007
Ken Aston, the English supervisor of referees, entered the field to try to persuade Rattín to leave, but he only exacerbated the situation since the Latin American teams had already suspected that the English and West Germans were collaborating to eliminate them from the competition. After his dismissal, Rattín scrunched the corner flag (featuring the Union Jack) with his hand before finally sitting down on the ground. After the match, England manager Alf Ramsey refused to allow his players to swap shirts with the Argentines (as is traditional after the conclusion of a major football match) and later described the South Americans as "animals" in the press. The Argentine press and public were outraged, and one Argentine newspaper published a picture of the official World Cup mascot, World Cup Willie, dressed in pirate regalia to demonstrate their opinion of the England team.
1986 World Cup
The rivalry between the sides continued in friendlies in 1974, 1977 and 1980. The match at Wembley in 1974 was officiated by an Argentinian referee, who awarded the away side a penalty in the last five minutes that Mario Kempes converted to secure a 2–2 draw. In Buenos Aires in June 1977, a 1–1 draw between the teams was marred by a punch by Daniel Bertoni on Trevor Cherry that resulted in both players being sent off. England beat Argentina 3–1 at Wembley in a less contentious match in 1980 that marked Diego Maradona's first appearance against England.