England to wear all-white kit against Argentina

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption,

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ByLorraine McKennaBBC Sport journalist

• Published46 minutes ago

England will wear their all-white home kit to face Argentina in the semi-finals of the World Cup in Atlanta on Wednesday.

Holders Argentina will be in their navy blue away strip, with black shorts and socks, for the game at the Atlanta Stadium (20:00 BST), which will be shown live on the BBC.

They have only worn the darker kit once during the tournament, in their 3-1 win against Jordan in the group stage.

Argentina have enjoyed success in their away kit against England at previous World Cups.

They defeated the Three Lions 2-1 in the 1986 quarter-finals, in which Diego Maradona scored the 'Hand of God' goal, and also secured a last-16 penalty shootout victory over their old rivals at the 1998 tournament in France.

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The home and away kits were reversed in 2002 for their group-stage match in Japan, with England claiming a 1-0 victory in red while Argentina wore their traditional striped kit.

Media outlets in Argentina have reported the team requested to wear the away kit in favour of their usual light blue and white strip for Wednesday's last-four tie.

Fifa's preference is for each team to wear its first-choice colours, but if there is a potential clash it will follow steps to ensure an acceptable colour contrast is found.

Football's world governing body also tries to make sure there is a dark-kit and light-kit colour contrast, in the interests of fans with colour vision deficiency (colour blindness).

England booked their place in the semi-finals with a 2-1 extra-time victory against Norway on Saturday, while Argentina claimed a dramatic 3-1 win over 10-man Switzerland, also in extra time, on Sunday.

Image gallerySkip image gallery

1. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption,

   Argentina wore their away kit when Maradona scored his infamous opening goal against England at the 1986 World Cup - dubbed the 'Hand of God'

2. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption,

   Maradona then scored a sublime second during Argentina's 2-1 win in the quarter-finals

3. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption,

   England wore white again in a penalty shootout loss to Argentina at the 1998 World Cup, where David Beckham was sent off for kicking out at midfielder Diego Simeone

4. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption,

   Beckham gained redemption four years later when he scored a penalty in a 1-0 group-stage win over Argentina, with England wearing their red away kit

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Previous imageNext imageSlide 1 of 4, Diego Maradona scores his infamous goal for Argentina against England at the 1986 World Cup , Argentina wore their away kit when Maradona scored his infamous opening goal against England at the 1986 World Cup - dubbed the 'Hand of God'End of image gallery

Related topics

• Football
• England Men's Football Team
• FIFA World Cup 2026
• Argentina

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