The Argentine Football Association has officially designated 15 July as 'National Football Teams Day,' a new annual observance created to celebrate Argentina's dramatic 2-1 victory over England in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup.
The match, played in Atlanta, was a tightly contested affair between two sides chasing a place in the final. England, managed by Thomas Tuchel, had been aiming for their first World Cup final appearance since 1966 and looked to be on course for it when Anthony Gordon put them ahead in the 55th minute. Tuchel's team then shifted into a defensive shape, sitting deep in an attempt to protect their advantage.
That plan unraveled in the closing stages. Argentina found a way through in the 85th minute to level the score, and then delivered a decisive blow deep into stoppage time, scoring again in the 92nd minute to complete a stunning turnaround and secure a 2-1 win.
The result carried extra symbolic weight for Argentine football, arriving almost exactly 40 years after the nation's celebrated—and controversial—quarter-final win over England at the 1986 World Cup.
The aftermath of the semi-final was not without controversy of its own. Some Argentine players chose to mark their victory by displaying a banner reading