Tens of thousands of Argentine soccer fans celebrate their team's World Cup semifinal victory

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Tens of thousands of soccer fans flooded the streets of Argentina's capital on Wednesday evening in a collective eruption of ecstasy over their national team’s 2-1 victory over England to reach the World Cup final.

Some screamed, others cried — and the most frenzied sprinted shirtless in pouring winter rain through the streets of Buenos Aires, their bodies painted in blue and white national colors. Young men and women scaled lamp posts and traffic lights, waving Argentine flags. Many sobbed, completely overwhelmed by the moment.

The celebrations — likely to last long into the night — followed Lautaro Martinez's winning goal two minutes into injury time in the game in Atlanta. Defending champions Argentina will now play Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday.

“Look around at all these strangers, jumping and dancing together,” said Rosana Beto Cruz, a 48-year-old Catholic nun celebrating among the sea of Argentines thronging the Obelisk, the city's soaring downtown monument, hours after the game.

“The World Cup, our national team, it makes this happen,” she added.

The public joy, many fans said, wasn’t so much about advancing to the finals or defending the title they won four years ago in Qatar as it was about crushing their nation’s historical adversary.

Wednesday's semifinal was the latest chapter in a long-running feud that has transcended far beyond the pitch to encompass British control over the disputed Falkland Islands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its sovereign territory.

“This is not just about football, it's about beating the country that broke our hearts,” Maria Bertero, 40, said, referring to the 10-week war in 1982 when the Argentine military dictatorship had unsuccessfully attempted to reclaim the remote South Atlantic territory. “My heart still aches for all the young boys who were sent to their deaths."

But joy soon replaced sadness as Bertero spoke of Wednesday's game. “It's tremendous. It's magic. It makes me proud to be Argentine,” she added, whistling and cheering.

The Buenos Aires celebrations were a sharp contrast to recent sentiment toward Argentina expressed on social media, where accusations that FIFA and the referees have conspired to get superstar Lionel Messi and Argentina through to the final have stirred resentment toward the reigning champions.

There is no evidence for such claims, but there have been several contentious calls.

That has done nothing to dim Argentines’ euphoria.

“All this talk about it being fixed, about FIFA being involved, have they even looked at what's happening on the field? How much we've suffered?” asked Jorge Luis Lema, who watched the game at a downtown bar, where the mood among patrons was somber until the 85th minute, when Enzo Fernandez's unstoppable goal unleashed pure exhilaration.

“It's a lie. Football is football,” Lema said of the online hate. “Whoever wins, wins. And Argentina won once again.”

The war over the Falkland Islands, which killed 649 Argentines — many of them young conscripts underresourced and outgunned by the British army — remains one of the South American nation's darkest chapters.

It also has loomed large in Argentine soccer culture since one of history’s greatest players, Diego Maradona, led Argentina to victory over England in a monumental 1986 World Cup quarterfinal with his notorious “Hand of God” goal and epic 58-meter solo sprint known as the “Goal of the Century.”

Messi, 39, who played for years under the weight of Maradona’s legacy until becoming a world champion in 2022, has once again lived up to — and perhaps exceeded — his country’s oppressive expectations, fans said.

“Seeing Messi playing football like this, at his age, it just leaves me speechless,” said Matías Adorno, 28, one of the countless revelers wearing Messi jerseys in central Buenos Aires — the same place where fans have gathered after every World Cup victory so far.

“As Argentines, we've always put so much pressure on him. But he's given us absolutely everything,” Adorno said, beaming.

Cries of “For the Malvinas, for Diego (Maradona), for Leo’s last one (tournament)” pierced the air.

Crowds bounced up and down to another classic chant dating back to the war — “El que no salta es un ingles,” or, “Whoever doesn't jump is an Englishman.”

The celebrations provided a rare catharsis that many Argentines, polarized under their radical libertarian President Javier Milei and accustomed to cycles of economic crisis, said was desperately needed.

“It is just pure joy, especially given the really bad movement we're going through now, with life being so expensive, with this president who's dividing us,” said Yanina Quinteros, 40, celebrating with her 6-year-old daughter perched on her shoulders.

“Tonight, we're together,” she added. “All of us, grandparents, children, mothers, fathers, we're all just here to celebrate tonight.”

Fans celebrate Argentina's victory over England in a World Cup semifinal soccer match around the Obelisk in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

A fan perches atop a traffic signal during celebrations of Argentina's victory over England in a World Cup semifinal soccer match in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Fans celebrate Argentina's victory over England in a World Cup semifinal soccer match in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

A family celebrates Argentina's victory over England in a World Cup semifinal soccer match while driving through Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

Fans celebrate Argentina's victory over England in a World Cup semifinal soccer match around the Obelisk in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday replaced an exhibit on slavery at the site of President George Washington’s home in Philadelphia with a version that historians say whitewashes the nation’s history.

The new exhibit was installed in the same area where the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776.

“Overnight, under the cover of darkness, the federal government removed panels at the President’s House that told a thorough history of Philadelphia,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said. “It was allowed to do this by the decision of the federal court, but that it did so at night shows it understands this action is shameful, that it violates community trust.”

The original panels were put in place in 2010 and told the story of how nine slaves lived in the home along with George and Martha Washington in the 1790s, when Philadelphia was briefly the nation’s capital.

The changed exhibition comes as President Donald Trump has made dismantling diversity and inclusion initiatives a priority in an aggressive campaign to overhaul some of America's most sacred cultural, historic and educational institutions.

Trump issued an executive order in 2025 that called for federally owned or controlled historic sites to not display information to “disparage Americans past or living” and to focus on the “greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.”

The directive has raised concerns about sanitizing and erasing dark sides of American history.

Trump has continued a broadside against culture he deems too liberal. In March, Trump revealed his intention to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order that targeted funding for programs that advanced “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology." He has also pressured organizations outside of the government, including universities, to take similar actions with the stated aim of eliminating what he says are discriminatory practices.

The Trump administration began removing the old panels earlier this year, but a lower court forced the federal government in February to stop while the city appealed. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit of Appeals reversed that and ruled July 3 that the work could continue.

The three-judge panel praised the plans for the replacement installation, writing that they were “full of historical context,” despite objections from historians and city officials that the content appears whitewashed.

The Interior Department told The Associated Press Wednesday in a statement that the new “panels are full of historical context and highlight the momentous events that took place in the President’s House and the other sites at Independence National Historical Park.”

“They acknowledge the evils of slavery, including its injustices and hypocrisies, and, by telling the stories of the nine slaves that Washington kept in the President’s House, remind us of their essential humanity,” the statement said.

The new panels still include information on enslaved people who lived in the home and details on the abolitionist movement, how the Constitution treated slavery, the end of slavery in Pennsylvania and how Washington and his successor, John Adams, viewed and treated slavery, as well as information about the 20th century Civil Rights movement.

However, the replacement panels do not include some of the detail in the earlier ones, such as a map of slave trade routes and a timeline on slavery. They also avoid critical headlines such as “The Dirty Business of Slavery.”

The city of Philadelphia had sued the federal government over the removal of information previously included in the panels. It argued that the federal government must consult with the city before making changes to the President’s House Site. Justice Department lawyers argued the administration alone can decide what stories are told at National Park Service properties.

Parker said the city intends to seek a rehearing “on serious legal issues” presented in the appeals court decision.

Michael Coard, an attorney and founder of Avenging The Ancestors Coalition (ATAC), said the Philadelphia-based history preservation group continues to work on legal strategies opposing the Trump administration’s changing of the panels.

ATAC joined the city’s lawsuit.

Trump is attempting to rewrite history, Coard told reporters Wednesday near the site.

“What if there’s a president next time who doesn’t like the Liberty Bell because the Liberty Bell was used by abolitionists to support the end of slavery?” he said. “What if there’s a president who doesn’t like the Statue of Liberty because too many immigrants come in? Do we remove the Statue of Liberty?”

Williams reported from Detroit.

Visitors view the reinstalled educational panels about slavery at the site of President George Washington's home in Philadelphia, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)

Visitors view the reinstalled educational panels about slavery at the site of President George Washington's home in Philadelphia, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)

Visitors view the reinstalled educational panels about slavery at the site of President George Washington's home in Philadelphia, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)

Visitors view the reinstalled educational panels about slavery at the site of President George Washington's home in Philadelphia, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)

Visitors view the reinstalled educational panels about slavery at the site of President George Washington's home in Philadelphia, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)