FIFA will examine match reports before deciding whether to take any action against Argentine players who held up a banner reading "Las Malvinas (Falklands) are Argentine" after their 2-1 win over England in the 2026 World Cup semi-final, the organization announced Thursday.

A British minister on Thursday called on FIFA to open an investigation into what happened after Wednesday's match in Atlanta.

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The office of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Downing Street backed the call by Business Minister Peter Kyle, following the World Cup semi-final match. Kyle described the banner as a "blatant violation" of FIFA rules that prohibit political symbols on the pitch. A Downing Street spokesperson said: "The World Cup may not be ours, but the Falkland Islands certainly are." Argentina invaded the British overseas territory in the South Atlantic in 1982. Britain recaptured the archipelago after a brief war, after then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sent a naval force. Kyle urged FIFA to conduct a "thorough" investigation into the banner incident after Wednesday's match in Atlanta. He said in a statement to BBC Television: "Politics should be kept out of football. In fact, one of the fundamental principles of the World Cup is that politics should be separate from football." He added: "It's now up to FIFA... we expect FIFA to investigate this."

FIFA issued a statement later on Thursday saying: "We are studying the match reports." The statement said: "In accordance with standard procedure, the FIFA independent disciplinary committee is currently reviewing the match reports and considering the relevant circumstances before deciding on any potential further steps based on the FIFA Disciplinary Code."

The Argentine Football Association was previously fined £20,000 ($27,000) by FIFA in 2014 for players standing in front of a banner bearing the same message before a friendly against Slovenia. FIFA said the initiative violated rules regarding "acts of a political nature" and team misconduct.

Britain occupied the Falkland Islands in the 19th century, but Argentina maintains that the islands are part of its territory. Meanwhile, Argentine President Javier Milei considered the move "perfectly valid and legitimate." He told Radio El Observador: "It is a genuine feeling for all Argentinians." However, he called for not mixing politics with sports, adding that "a football match is a football match." Milei said, "The Malvinas Islands are Argentine, and we will recover them, and we will do so through diplomatic means."

Argentine Vice President Victoria Villarruel escalated tensions ahead of Wednesday's match by describing the English as "usurping pirates." The 1982 conflict ended with the deaths of 649 Argentines and 255 Britons.

Following Argentina's World Cup semi-final win, Argentine Foreign Minister said Buenos Aires filed a formal protest over the presence of a British warship near the Falkland Islands. Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno published a statement on X expressing "the strongest rejection" of the passage of the British ship HMS Midway through Argentine territorial waters, considering it done "without consultation and illegally," and noting the lack of proper notification. Quirno said the aforementioned ship, based in the Falklands, was accused of violating bilateral agreements, in a diplomatic protest note dated July 13 and submitted to the British embassy in Buenos Aires.