Argentina has revived its row with Britain over the Falkland Islands ahead of its World Cup semi-final against England.
Sir Keir Starmer pushed back on claims over the weekend by Argentina’s foreign minister that Falklanders were “artificially implanted” on the islands.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said that “islanders have repeatedly expressed their wish to remain a British territory and their right to self-determination is paramount”.
But Donald Trump could be the deciding factor in the dispute, with Argentina’s populist President Javier Milei hoping the US President will help him to pressure the British Government for access to lucrative oil fields near the islands.
Argentina’s World Cup team were filmed dancing around their changing room on Saturday night chanting: “For the Malvinas [Falkland Islands],” after their quarter-final victory over Switzerland.
On the same day, in an essay for newspaper La Nación, Pablo Quirno, Argentina’s foreign minister, claimed that the 2013 referendum over the islands’ future was illegitimate, and called for negotiations regarding their sovereignty.
A return to military confrontation in the Falklands – the site of a brief but bloody war between the nations in 1982 – is highly unlikely. But Britain could be backed into a corner with the help of the US.
Study up and learn, this is how La Scaloneta sings pic.twitter.com/7KId82jDoc
— Selección Argentina in English (@AFASeleccionEN) July 8, 2026“Trump wasn’t happy about the lack of support from the UK over the Iran war,” Johanna Amaya-Panche, senior lecturer in international relations and politics at Liverpool John Moores University, told The i Paper. “So he mentioned that he might retire the support of the United States over the property or the management by the United Kingdom of Falkland Islands.
“So if Milei and the foreign minister manage to persuade or lobby Trump, the United States government, that could push the UK government to sit and develop negotiations.”
Successive British governments have stated that discussions over sovereignty are not an option, backed by a 99.8 per cent vote in favour of remaining a British Overseas Territory in the 2013 referendum.
But Milei – who is prioritising mineral and hydrocarbon extraction to boost Argentina’s flagging economy – has spotted an opening after work began to create infrastructure needed to start drilling at the Sea Lion oil field north of the islands.
Work has begun on building infrastructure needed to start drilling at the Sea Lion oil field north of the Falkland IslandsThe project could generate hundreds of millions of pounds of oil revenues for the islands – roughly £80,000 a year for each of the roughly 3,500 islanders. It could also help repay Britain for defence of the Falklands, which has cost millions, said Grace Livingstone, author and affiliated lecturer at Cambridge University’s Centre of Latin American Studies.
Milei, an adherent to Trump’s “drill baby drill” strategy, has other ideas. He has vowed to stop work at the oil field, calling it an “illegitimate” attempt to “advance on resources that belong to Argentina”.
The chainsaw-wielding “anarcho-capitalist” is trying to pressure major oil companies to deter them from investing in Falklands projects that could provide an economic boost to the UK, says Livingstone.
“It’s a really sore point, not just in Argentina, but across South America. It goes back to colonial times where richer countries have exploited and extracted Latin American raw materials,” she told The i Paper. “The big oil companies have kept away from the Falkland Island oil because there’s all these diplomatic and legal difficulties and it is much more lucrative to them to work with the government to search for oil off the coast of Argentina so they wouldn’t want to jeopardise that.”
Christopher Wylde, senior lecturer in politics and international relations at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, said: “The only way Argentina can kind of get any kind of movement is through the United States.
Populist Argentinian president Javier Milei is a close ally of Donald Trump (Photo: Luis Robayo/AFP)“Milei’s approach is to exploit natural resources through foreign capital investments, and I guess they’re kind of thumping their chest to sort of say, ‘look, if you want access to all of our wonderful oil and hydrocarbons and lithium in mainland, step away from Las Malvinas, because we’ll sanction you.'”
While an agreement on sharing the natural resources could be an option, Amaya-Panche thinks it is unlikely. “I think Argentina are playing a zero-sum game. They want everything or nothing. It appears to be simply a calling for negotiations from the foreign minister, but the message behind is that they want to recover the islands totally.”
She said Milei’s goal was to increase his popularity internally and show that he is fulfilling his campaign promises, while aligning with US foreign policy internationally. The chanting by Lionel Messi and his teammates is an expression of a deep connection to the islands within working-class Argentinian communities.
Falkland Islanders see the arguments as mostly “noise” but are keen to make sure that their voices are heard in any discussions on the future of the territory. “Argentina have said this, Argentina have said that, it just turns into background noise here because it is so constant,” Katharyn Daniels, deputy editor of Penguin News, the islands’ only print newspaper, said. “We’ve got our own things to worry about in the Falklands, like everyone around the world.
UK troops training near Falklands capital Stanley. A return to military conflict is unlikely, but Argentina is using diplomatic and economic pressure to build a case for ownership (Photo: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty)“People here see oil as great for the economy but I don’t think there would be much appetite for sharing resources with Argentina. There have been cooperation agreements signed between the UK and Argentina to allow things like collaboration on fishery science or flights, for example, and the Falklands have held up their end but Argentina haven’t been playing ball.
“There are a lot of conversations that happen about the Falklands that don’t often involve Falkland Islanders. We are not just a political tool or a political football for other people. It’s home for three-and-a-half thousand people.”
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