Argentina and England are due to face off in the semi-finals of World Cup 2026 and the South American side have been given an early boost. The three-time world champions reportedly requested to wear their navy blue change colours for the meeting and this has been approved. For those curious about the request, it appears to be all to do with previous meetings between the two national teams. Argentina beat England when wearing navy blue in 1986 and 1998 but lost to the same opponents while wearing their traditional light blue and white stripes in both 1966 and 2002.
FIFA have confirmed England will wear all white while Argentina don their change colours. It’s not all bad news for Thomas Tuchel’s side, who also wore all white for crucial victories in this tournament. However, there will be less warm memories of those 1986 and 1998 meetings. The former featured Diego Maradona’s infamous ‘hand of God’ goal while the latter saw England’s David Beckham sent off after kicking out at Diego Simeone before Argentina prevailed on penalties.
According to Argentinian publication TN, the kit decision has generated considerable excitement among supporters of the 2022 World Cup winners. The dark blue away strip has been worn just once in 2026, during the group stage triumph over Jordan, though the England connotations have not been lost.
While Argentina have secured their preference, there has been no word on whether England put forward a preference of their own. They wore all white for their quarter-final against Norway and their round of 32 triumph over DR Congo but lined up in a white shirt and blue shorts against Mexico in the round of 16.
The same TN report highlights further coincidences that Argentina supporters have seized upon ahead of the fixture. Notably, the South Americans topped their group unbeaten in both 1986 and 1998.They did the same in 2026, winning all three group games. However, they only came second in their group in the build-up to the 1966 encounter, which England won 1-0 thanks to a second-half goal from Geoff Hurst.
Fans have also pointed to the fact that a defender found the net for the Albiceleste in both 1986 and 1998 before their clashes with England. The pattern holds true this year, with Lisandro Martinez and Cristian Romero netting against Cape Verde and Egypt respectively.
England wore all white for the 1966 meeting but donned red shirts when David Beckham’s penalty secured a group stage triumph in 2002. Thomas Tuchel’s squad have worn their red change strip on just one occasion this tournament, during the group stage victory over Panama.
FIFA have also confirmed the kit colours for the first semi-final, in which France will line up in blue shirts and white shorts while Spain sport white shirts and red shorts. Both teams wore different combinations for their respective quarter-finals.