After Wednesday’s victory, Argentine Vice President Victoria Villarruel published in, externalwriting “it wasn’t just another game” next to a video of what appeared to be Argentine soldiers.

“The Malvinas are Argentine,” Villarruel published. “They prohibited bringing them to the stadium and they forgot that we carry them in our blood and in our hearts.”

In the preview of the match, Villarruel had said that the semifinal was about “putting the invaders in their place.”

The Argentine players also sang chants referencing the Falklands and Argentine greats Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi after their dramatic 3-2 victory over Egypt in the round of 16.

However, before the semi-final, coach Lionel Scaloni had said that he was “not going to mix” football and politics.

“The reality is that this is a football match. I can’t mix things up, especially out of respect for what happened so many years ago,” Scaloni had said.

“It was a very sad period in our history and there’s not much we can do about it, that’s the reality.

“Things are happening in other parts of the world and we criticize the existence of war. Of course, we remember those people, but it is a football match, we must not confuse them.”

The semi-final, which England lost with late goals from Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez, took place under increased security measures due to historic tensions between the two nations.