Argentines lament World Cup loss and chance to be champions again
Argentina's Lionel Messi and his team lost the World Cup final to Spain, crushing their dream of being back-to-back champions. Many Argentines gathered around the Obelisk monument in downtown Buenos Aires to watch the match and celebrate the team's semi-final victory agai…
Intelligence analysis by Llama
Argentina's World Cup dreams were crushed as they lost the final to Spain, but fans still gathered to celebrate the team's semi-final victory against England. The loss marked the end of a dream for many Argentines, but some still held onto hope for the future.
Imagine you're playing a big soccer game with your friends, and you really want to win. But your team loses, and you're really sad. That's how many Argentines felt when their team lost the World Cup final. But some people were still happy because they had won a previous game against England, and they thought that was a big deal.
Analysis
A Bitter Sensation
The streets of Buenos Aires slowly came back to life on Sunday evening as Argentines dressed in blue and white silently walked home from bars and viewing parties after losing the World Cup final to Spain and the chance to be back-to-back champions. Spain secured their 1–0 victory with a goal in extra time, crushing Argentina's dream in the United States of repeating their 2022 Qatar triumph and claiming a fourth title.
Many Argentines started the World Cup with tempered expectations, not daring to believe that their country could achieve the rare feat of clinching two consecutive World Cups as only Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962) have done. But nerves and expectations swelled as the team led by star Lionel Messi pushed through nail-biting knockout stage wins over Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland.
Several Argentines on Sunday said the semi-final victory against England had left them satisfied enough with the team. That match carried heavy symbolism for Argentines, framed by the history of England's win at the 1966 World Cup, Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal in 1986 and the memory of the 1982 war over the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as the Islas Malvinas.
Players brandished a banner declaring "Las Malvinas Son Argentinas" ("The Falklands are Argentine") after the 2-1 win. "Of course, it's a very bitter sensation but we still beat the British, Messi had been missing that," said Ornella Godoy, a 24-year-old who works in publicity, on her way back from watching the match with friends outside a bar. Messi had never before played against England.
"It's the end of a dream," said the headline of La Nacion, one of Argentina's largest newspapers, on its website after the match, under an image of Messi's distraught face. But thousands of Argentines still gathered around the Obelisk monument in downtown Buenos Aires, where fireworks went off. It was a far cry from 2022, when more than a million people filled downtown Buenos Aires the night that Argentina won the World Cup.
When the national team arrived two days later, millions more paralysed the city to welcome them home in the country’s largest street party, forcing Messi and his team mates to be flown in helicopters across the city to join the celebrations. Many suspect that this will be the last World Cup for Messi, who turned 39 last month, but Godoy was optimistic.
"We have faith in the players that are left," she said.
Key points
- Argentina lost the World Cup final to Spain, crushing their dream of being back-to-back champions.
- Many Argentines gathered around the Obelisk monument in downtown Buenos Aires to watch the match and celebrate the team's semi-final victory against England.
- The loss marked the end of a dream for many Argentines, but some still held onto hope for the future.
- The team's semi-final victory against England was a highlight of the tournament, but the final loss was a crushing blow.
- Some Argentines are still holding onto hope for the future, believing that the team can still achieve great things.
Some Argentines are still holding onto hope for the future, believing that the team can still achieve great things. They point to the team's semi-final victory against England as a highlight of the tournament and a sign of things to come.
The loss of the World Cup final is a significant blow to Argentina, and many fans are feeling a bitter sensation. The team's chances of winning the tournament again in the future are slim, and some fans are worried that this will be the last World Cup for Messi.
