'England... go f*** yourself!': How Three Lions' World Cup semi-final defeat unfolded in Argentina with photos of Lionel Messi on every street corner, the English national anthem drowned out and shops closing early

Moments after the final whistle, two medics dashed into a mosh pit of joy to carry out a young woman who fainted in the excitement. Argentina's World Cup melodrama, with all of its late plot twists, never ceases to surprise the locals.

At the city’s fan zone, the smell of gunpowder filled the Buenos Aires sky. A whiff of sulphur from the fireworks that were let off in the parks and the streets as the city erupted. They danced tangoand the place turned into a giant dance floor.

There were tears for

Lionel Messi

. Tears for their team who put them through hell. Tears for their heroes who, once again, sent them to the depths of darkness before this proud footballing nation burst into technicolour.

Outside the Casa Rosada, where Argentina’s first lady, Eva Peron, famously addressed her supporters in the 1950s, anti-English banners were unfurled long before kick-off.

The largest roughly translated to ‘Inglaterra… go f*** yourself.’ Political tensions around this match had been fuelled all week. It felt more like a state occasion than a football match.

In La Perensa newspaper, the spokesman for the president, Javier Milei, issued a clarification statement after his recent comments about

Margaret Thatcher

had been misinterpreted as admiration for the former Prime Minister. In 1982, Thatcher authorised a naval task force to liberate the Falkland Islands from Argentina and this nation has never forgiven her.

Argentina fans support their team in a Buenos Aires restaurant

‘Por Malvinas, por el Diego, por la ultima de Leo,’ they chanted. Safety advice was issued by my hotel before I set off to watch the game in Palermo.

‘Don’t wear an England shirt, there could be trouble,’ warned one of the receptionists. Yet when the final whistle blew, once everyone here had time to pinch themselves, nobody was talking politics.

Cars whizzed down the streets blaring their horns and the waving flags, like some kind of uprising. You suspect the shops - which closed early as locals left their offices at 2pm - will be late opening on Thursday morning, as it felt like the entire country was prepared to dance until the early hours.

Throughout the week, the nation has been crippled by a state of footballing anxiety. Argentina’s run to the semi-final, they say, was unconvincing. Despite being defending champions, they had scraped through the rounds with a series of late victories, inspired by their 39-year-old messiah.

Lionel Messi did not score but his was the name they chanted in celebration. ‘MESSI! MESSI! MESSI! The No10 is the nation’s ultimate commodity.

A man with same footballing wizardry as Diego Maradona, but without the drink and the drugs. Every major company wants a piece of him. Banks, oil companies, fast food chains. It is hard to fathom how one individual can be so universally adored.

They drank maté tea from wooden cups with metal straws and roared every big collision, as Argentina tried to rough up the English. Anthony Gordon’s goal left them in a shocked state of silence. But those final throws, like two late bolts of thunder, sent heads spinning into delirium.

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