Argentina to wear navy blue jersey for England semifinal, and no, it’s not because of kit regulations
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Argentina to wear navy blue jersey for England semifinal, and no, it’s not because of kit regulations")
Argentina vs England Why Messi's team swapped kits for World Cup semifinal Photograph: (AFP)
Argentina will ditch their traditional stripes for an iconic navy blue jersey against England in the World Cup semifinal—a strategic choice heavily rooted in historic superstition.
Defending world champions Argentina will wear navy blue jerseys for their World Cup semifinal against England, and the Three Lions will don the regular all-white home kit for the knockout match. Argentina has worn the darker kit only once during the tournament, against Jordan in the group stage. While this could also be seen as part of kit regulation at the tournament, with the two playing teams supposed to wear contrasting colour kits, the real reason is far from that.
The local media in Argentina have reported that it could be because of a superstition – with the navy-blue kit associated with the iconic World Cup wins over England in 1986 and 1998. Argentina beat England in the quarterfinal of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, when Diego Maradona scored the infamous ‘Hand of God’, and then won a penalty shoot-out in the 1998 edition to qualify for the last eight.
Also read| France vs Spain, World Cup Semifinal: Head-to-head record, 2006 drama, and recent history
The home and away kits were reversed for their 2002 group-stage match in Japan, where England secured a 1-0 win wearing red, while Argentina wore their traditional strip.
Although FIFA’s choice is to let each team wear its first-choice kit, in case of a potential clash, it ensures that two participating teams wear contrasting colours. The football’s governing body, however, also tries to ensure that one team wears a dark-coloured jersey and the other a light-coloured jersey, in the interests of fans with colour blindness.
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Argentina vs England Why Messi's team swapped kits for World Cup semifinal Photograph: (AFP)
Meanwhile, England and Argentina booked their places in the semifinal after wins over Norway and Switzerland, respectively. While England beat crowd favourite Norway 2-1 in their last 8 fixture, Lionel Messi-led Argentina edged past Switzerland 3-1 in theirs.
Even though Messi failed to score in that game, he was instrumental in guiding his team to back-to-back semifinals. Argentina will aim to reach the final and win back the World Cup for the second straight time.
On the other hand, France will face Spain in the first semifinal on Wednesday (Jul 15) in Dallas.
