FIFA's Stadium Code of Conduct bans "banners, flags, flyers, apparel and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive, and/or discriminatory nature" inside stadiums.

World soccer's ruling body did not immediately reply to a request for comment. British business minister Peter Kyle said the incident must be formally investigated, stressing that politics must be kept separate from the World Cup.

"I'm really proud of our team ... the dignity that they showed, and that was in real contrast to what we saw with the Argentine team last night," Kyle told BBC Radio on Thursday. "I really do hope that FIFA do a proper investigation into it."

The question of sovereignty over the islands in the South Atlantic, known to the British as the Falklands and the Argentines as the Malvinas, has been a long-running sore in relations between the countries.

They fought a short conflict over the islands in 1982, in which 649 Argentine soldiers and 255 British combatants died. Britain ultimately retained control of the islands, and the vast majority of residents have said they wish to remain part of Britain.

But Argentina has long argued that it inherited the islands from Spain ​after its independence in 1816, and that Britain took control in 1833 through an illegal colonial act.

Lisandro Martinez and Giovani Lo Celso held up the banner, grinning, and waved to fans in the stands. It was unclear where the banner had come from.

On Wednesday, following their World Cup semi-final victory, Argentina's foreign minister said that Buenos Aires had filed a formal protest over a British warship near the Falkland Islands.

Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno posted on X to express "the strongest rejection" of the United Kingdom's HMS Medway's "unconsulted and illegal" passage through Argentine territorial waters, alleging a lack of proper notification.

Quirno said the Medway, which is based in the Falkland Islands, is accused of violating bilateral agreements in a July 13-dated diplomatic note of protest submitted to the United Kingdom's embassy in Buenos Aires.

"In diplomacy, work is not shouted about like goals, but we are driven by the same conviction: the pride of being Argentine and the constant defense of our interests," Quirno said in a statement.

Before the post went up, Argentine president Javier Milei told local broadcaster Radio Mitre that the World Cup victory was just "a football match."

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