The White House has defended Argentina's football team over its right to display a banner asserting sovereignty over the Falkland Islands after celebrating a World Cup semi-final win over England, a stance that has reignited a diplomatic row between the two nations. Fifa may take disciplinary action against Argentina for breaching rules on political statements, while the UK government has backed calls for an investigation, with Downing Street insisting the islands "definitely" remain British.

Argentina players held up a banner reading "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" ("The Falklands are Argentine") after Wednesday's match, and Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House Fifa task force, said the team had exercised its First Amendment rights by making the statement in the US. The Falkland Islands' government said it was "disappointed but not surprised" and urged Fifa to sanction such behaviour, noting that in a 2013 referendum, 1,513 of 1,517 votes cast favoured remaining a UK overseas territory. The episode follows Argentina's vice-president posting Falklands-related content online and players singing related chants earlier in the tournament, echoing tensions from the 1982 Falklands War, in which 255 British military personnel, three islanders and 649 Argentine soldiers died.