An Argentina supporter near the Obelisk in Buenos Aires mimicked Enzo Fernández’s celebration after his equaliser against England. Photograph: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images
Watching England lose is one thing. Watching them lose surrounded by millions celebrating Argentina’s march to another World Cup final is completely different.
Most people were awfully good about it. Our waiter at a restaurant near Plaza de Mayo shook our hands warmly and said nice things about Jude Bellingham. On the metro ride back from the fan zone there was no massive gloating either, just bright-eyed kids in Lionel Messi shirts swept along by the nationwide euphoria. “Vamos, vamos, Argentina,” they sang, barely able to believe that their team were once again heading to a World Cup final.
A rare privilege for an English bystander
To be a stray English bystander in a city totally awash in sky blue and white was a rare privilege. Some of us covering England’s rugby union tour have been lucky enough to visit a few memorable sporting cauldrons, but to be in Buenos Aires after Argentina defeated England at a football World Cup is right up there.
From train drivers triumphantly honking their horns at every underground platform to people dancing in the streets and old ladies waving flags from balconies high above the traffic, it made a frenzied cricket World Cup fixture between India and Pakistan feel like a garden fete. “Tell them you’re Scottish,” advised my Argentinian friend, concerned for our welfare in the event of an England victory. In the event, there was no need for any such subterfuge.
The quiet before the storm
For a while, though, that was not a certainty. Imagine, if you can, sitting in a deserted library in the tiniest hamlet in deepest Tierra del Fuego. It still would not be as quiet as the aghast silence that greeted Anthony Gordon putting England 1-0 up. Forty years on from Diego Maradona’s Hand of God, the Foot of Gordon threatened to be almost as legendary. Momentarily, it felt like Buenos Aires had all the air sucked out of it.
Alas, poor England, we know how it finished. Leaving aside the idiot fan zone announcer briefly yelling about the Malvinas and someone setting fire to a homemade flag of St George as the celebrations ramped up in town, the main takeaway is just how football crazy this country is. Lorries and cars with national flags draped across dashboards, Messi’s face on every billboard … Mexico and Brazil may say otherwise, but Argentina belongs in an obsessive league of its own.
Celebrations reaching fever pitch
Goodness knows how frenzied the atmosphere will be during Sunday’s final. After Argentina won the World Cup four years ago, about four million people took to the streets of the capital. The city was so congested that a planned open-top bus parade had to be abandoned, so the players flew overhead in helicopters. I asked a local how long the public celebrations had lasted. “They’re still going on,” came the dry reply.
Beating England always adds a certain extra frisson. En route into town from the airport this week, our parka-wearing taxi driver made teasing Hand of God gestures at us as soon as he found out our nationality. It might have been more amusing had he not been hammering down a busy dual carriageway at 90mph. Having made absolutely sure to charge us a vastly inflated fare on the grounds his meter wasn’t working, our man also made a point of winding down his window and shouting “Campeones, Argentina” as he pulled away. For some people, getting one over Los Ingleses never loses its appeal.
Respect for the fallen
Happily, though, there are also those determined to reject crass parallels between a mere football match and the 1982 Falklands crisis. Argentinian war veterans put out an eve-of-game statement calling on politicians not to use the semi-final as a platform to push for sovereignty over the South Atlantic islands, asking fans instead to honour the memory of the Argentinian soldiers killed in the conflict.
That said, “El Que No Salta Es Un Inglés” – “Anyone who doesn’t jump is an Englishman” – remains very definitely the local chant of choice. Incidentally, the recent death of Bonnie Tyler also made headlines here because her hit single It’s a Heartache supplies the tune for another extremely popular terrace ditty, the lyrics of which are probably best left to the imagination.
The final frontier
It now falls to Messi and co to finish the job. Argentina’s population is about 46 million – the wider Buenos Aires metropolitan area is home to about 16 million – and the scenes at the capital’s Obelisk monument, where fans traditionally go to celebrate major wins, will be off the charts should Spain be beaten.
