Great Britain v Argentina: Five of the greatest sporting clashes

Great Britain take on Argentina in the Davis Cup semi-finals this weekend.

Maradona, Dalglish, Ackford - three men at the heart of Britain v Argentina clashes

Image credit: TNT Sports

It should be a thrilling clash, with Britain's Andy Murray and Argentina's top dog Juan Martin del Potro being two of the hottest players in tennis this summer.

On top of that, there is just something special about a sporting clash between Britain and Argentina. The strong links between the two nations stretch back over two centuries, to Britain's role in provoking and supporting the revolutionary wars that saw South America win independence from Spain in the 19th century. And nowhere was the aftermath of that support felt more strongly than in Argentina, which witnessed mass immigration from the UK - leaving the country with remnants such as a top flight football team called Newell's Old Boys, and a large chunk of Patagonia where Welsh is still widely spoken.

In sport, the rivalry has been just as strong - but it has also at times turned bitter.

Wimbledon

'We can say the level is better' - Hurkacz compares Sinner and Alcaraz to 'Big Four'

18/07/2025 at 16:19

So what better way to get you in the mood for what promises to be thrilling clash at Glasgow's Commonwealth Arena than to look back at five of the bitterest clashes between British and Argentine sporting teams.

Football: The 1966 World Cup quarter-final, England v Argentina

Yes, 1966. Twenty years before the 'Hand of God' there was outrage over a football match – this time with Argentina coming off second best in a match dubbed "the robbery of the century". It was a fiery match from the start – indeed, so aggressive was the tackling that England manager Sir Alf Ramsey branded the Argentines "animals", and rushed onto the pitch at full time to stop his men from swapping shirts with their counterparts.

The turning point had come an hour or so earlier, however, when Argentina's captain Antonio Rattin was sent off for dissent – despite later for one of the decisions made.

Antonio Rattin - Youtube/FIFA screen grab

Image credit: TNT Sports

"The referee was totally biased – he gave everything to England," Rattin later said.

"I didn't commit a foul, or insult the referee or any other player… I think he wanted to send me off all along, and that's what he did."

What followed went into sporting folklore: Rattin refused to leave the pitch for eight minutes, until a group of FIFA officials came on and begged him to leave. But he wasn't finished yet:

"Because I was angry I grabbed the British flag [one of the corner flags] and crumpled it up, then insulted the crowd," he said.

"In return they insulted me– and they three cans of beer at me. And not empty ones, either. That's when I knew I had to get out of there!"

Football: Scotland v Argentina friendly, 1977

A year before the 1978 World Cup, Scotland travelled to Argentina to play one of the least-friendly friendlies on record. The match took place in the seething atmosphere of Boca Juniors stadium, and was a horrendously bad-tempered affair.

Argentina were being coached by Cesar Luis Menotti, a former journalist who was never pictured without a cigarette on the go, and at the time their tactics were vicious: Willie Johnson was spat at in the face, had his shirt almost tugged off completely and got elbowed in the kidneys whenever the referee's back was turned. Argentina committed 41 fouls during the match (Scotland, for reference, committed 14). Both goals in the 1-1 draw came from penalties.

Menotti was asked about the violent approach in his post-match press conference, but refused to answer. As for the Scots at the press conference? They staged a protest by walking out in disgust.

Argentina v Scotland 1977 - Argentina's Omar Larrosa (r) looks on as teammate Vicente Pernia (l) squares up to Scotland's Willie Johnston (c), who offers a conciliatory shrug

Image credit: PA Photos

While Menotti was unapologetic, the Argentine FA were mortified. Dr Alfredo Cantilo, president of the AFA, officially apologised to the Scottish FA for what had happened, saying he was "ashamed" of the team and promising to take the manager to task.

12 months later Argentina cleaned up their act and went on to lift the trophy on home soil; Scotland went out of the World Cup group stage on goal difference, their failure to beat Iran costing them a place in the quarter-finals.

A year after that, incidentally, another friendly was arranged: the Scots warmly welcomed the South American nation to Hampden Park, and the match was lit up by a stocky young Argentine teenager named Diego Armando Maradona, who scored his first ever international goal…

Football: The 1986 World Cup quarter-final

In the wake of the bad-tempered 1966 World Cup match a string of Anglo-Argentine friendlies were arranged, rebuilding the sporting relationship between the nations. In 1982, however, something appalling happened: Britain went to war with Argentina following a dispute over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands – aka Las Malvinas – and the once-close relationship between the two nations hit an all-time low.

So it's perhaps not surprising that tensions were high ahead of the World Cup match in Mexico City's iconic Azteca Stadium.

Things weren't helped by what happened on the pitch: 51 minutes into the match Maradona rose to challenge England goalkeeper Peter Shilton for a high ball and palmed the ball into the net.

Hand Of God

Image credit: From Official Website

Several minutes of angry protests ensued, with the England players apoplectic about the referee and linesman both missing the offence. Four minutes later Maradona scored again, this time the greatest goal in World Cup history; but Gary Lineker's late consolation effort meant the game finished 2-1, and the whole of England was left with a burning sense of injustice about what had happened.

That sense of injustice was not helped by Maradona writing the following in his 2007 autobiography:

"It was as if we had beaten a country, not just a football team... Although we had said before the game that football had nothing to do with the Malvinas war, we knew they had killed a lot of Argentine boys there, killed them like little birds. And this was revenge."

As for his two goals?

"I sometimes think I preferred the one with my hand... It was a bit like stealing the wallet of the English."

Rugby: England v Argentina friendly, 1990

Federico Mendez punches Paul Ackford - England v Argentina, Twickenham, November 1990

Image credit: TNT Sports

Argentina prop Federico Mendez, with only a single international cap to his name, picked a hell of a target to make his name in the world of international rugby. Facing England at Twickenham, Mendez came out of a ruck, turned, and thumped Paul Ackford in the face.

Ackford was 6'6" –half a foot taller than Mendez – and a serving officer in the Met Police.

Mendez was 18 and, rather incredibly, still at school.

The young Argentine was instantly sent off, and 14-man Argentina ended up losing 51-0. It was the first time in his international career that the Pumas legendary kicker Hugo Porta failed to score a single point in a match.

As for Ackford? He was nicknamed 'Bambi' in the dressing room for the jelly-shaking of his legs as he walked from the pitch... and even when he got back to work the ribbing continued, writing years later, following an interview with Mendez, about "the Mickey-taking juvenile crime sheet my police colleagues put in when I returned to work on the Monday."

In the same interview, Mendez claimed that it was a "lucky punch" (though Ackford didn't see it that way) and explained that he'd actually intended to punch another England forward, Jeff Probyn, who'd been grabbing his balls in the scrum in an attempt to put him off his game.

Football: England v Argentina, 1998 World Cup last-16

A thumping first half between the old enemies ended 2-2, but two minutes after the restart the game was more-or-less ended as a contest when David Beckham got sent off for a limp-ankled flick of the leg in the direction of Diego Simeone. The hard-man of the Argentina XI threw himself into the air as if he'd stepped on a landmine, then subsequently writhed in agony as if he'd landed in a field of stinging nettles.

David Beckham Diego Simeone England Argentina 1998

Image credit: TNT Sports

England held out bravely against wave after wave of Argentine attacks – and even got the ball in the back of the net via the head of Sol Campbell, only to see it contentiously disallowed for a somewhat spurious foul by Alan Shearer ahead of the cross coming in. The penalty shootout went Argentina's way – and rather than blame David Batty, a new generation of English fans blamed a combination of Beckham's petulance (he was widely booed for months, nay years, afterwards at grounds across England) and Argentine skulduggery.

Just as Maradona later crowed about his cunning, so did Simeone: he boasted proudly that he'd "conned the referee" into giving the red card.

The bad feeling continued for some years: in March 2002 Aldo Duscher put in a tackle on Beckham which broke the English midfielder's foot (and took the word 'metatarsal' from medical textbooks into everyday parlance). Argentina's press responded by labelling Duscher a "national hero".

Have things cooled off since then? Not if this picture from a pre-World Cup friendly in 2014 is anything to go by...

Argentina's footballers pose for photographers holding a banner reading "The Malvinas / Falkland Islands are Argentine" before a friendly football match against Slovenia at La Plata stadium in La Plata, Buenos Aires

Image credit: AFP

Wimbledon

Sinner surpasses Djokovic, Federer and Murray with wild stat after Wimbledon triumph

15/07/2025 at 15:23

Tennis

Murray reveals most 'humbling' career moment against Federer - ‘I was playing awful’

15/07/2025 at 11:37