Just so we're clear, this wasn't a regular match
Argentina's insistence that these islands are theirs are based on dubious territorial claims at best (as were Britain's original claims to be fair...we left a plaque? come on be serious). When it comes to the question of colonization, there was no local indigenous population that was ever oppressed, displaced, or colonized by the British...they were UNINHABITED until Vernet showed up to start a settlement there and he was advancing neither side's claims as he was neither British nor Argentinian and he got permission from both (I play both sides so I always come out on top).
That brings us to the gauchos. Argentina's revisionist history turning Antonio Rivero from a murderer into a patriot is as transparent as an attempt to assert their territorial claims as it is pathetic. No, historians agree that these were men upset about their working conditions under Vernet whose response was cold blooded murder. IF this was a patriotic act of rebellion against British presence (it wasn't), it was an even more spectacular failure than the later war would be, as it caused Britian in 1834 to respond by having a permanent resident on the island and establishment of a permanent colony in 1841. FAIL.
Fast forward to the 1980s and post-WWII Britain has a lot of other concerns, and Argentina gets it in its head that a military invasion and occupation of the islands would go unopposed. Perhaps they thought everyone on the island would fuck off back to Britain if they just showed up and started bossing everyone around? So they did it, treated the islanders like shit because of course the islanders see themselves as British, and the British responded with overwhelming military force. At the time Margret Thatcher was in her first term with a very low approval rating, but the war was so politically popular at home that her approval rating actually became positive afterwards. There's a very real possibility that without the Falklands war she never would have been re-elected, SO THANKS FOR THAT ASSHOLES.
Since Argentina had failed spectacularly at holding the islands, they responded by basically making up a bunch of shit into a legend and then weaving this story that the islands actually belong to them into multiple facets of life in Argentina that way over the generations Argentinians would roundly be raised to believe this is the case. So here we are today.
Possession is 9/10th of the law and Britain has had it since ATLEAST the mid 1830s. Everyone there today is ethnically British and if you ask them 98% of them want to remain British rather than have independence; they certainly have no interest in joining Argentina.
DO YOU KNOW HOW BAD U HAVE TO FUCK UP TO GET PEOPLE TO SIDE WITH BRITAIN?! Seriously, fuck all the way off Argentina.
Our history
The Falkland Islands have never had any native inhabitants and no indigenous people have ever been displaced, instead the Islands were entirely unoccupied until 1765, when they were first claimed by the British who established a garrison at Port Egmont. Over the years, the British, French and Spanish periodically had garrisons within the Islands until 1811 when all were withdrawn. On 6 October 1832, an Argentine military garrison arrived in an attempt to establish sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, disregarding the British claim of 67 years prior. Less than three months later, on 2 January 1833, the Royal Navy evicted the military base with no loss of life. The civilian population, who had sought permission from Britain to live there, were invited to stay. A year later, a small, permanent British administration was established and in 1845 Stanley become the capital. We enjoyed a peaceful existence until 1 April 1982, when an Argentine military force invaded our home. For 74 days we lived under foreign occupation, until our liberation by British forces on 14 June 1982. Nearly 1,000 Falkland Islands, British and Argentine lives were lost as a result of the war. Since 1982, our lives have been transformed, we have become financially self-sufficient and almost entirely self-governing, we determine our own future and way of life. Our community has been formed through voluntary immigration and settlement over the course of nearly two hundred years. We are a diverse society, with people from over 60 nations having made the Islands their home. At our heart are those Falkland Islanders whose families have been in the Islands for nine generations. In 2009 our new Constitution was established which provides enhanced local democracy, internal self-government and enshrines the right of self-determination. Four years later in 2013, we held a referendum which was overseen by international observers, where 99.8% of the electorate voted to remain a British Overseas Territory.
This is an article from the government of the faulklands. It's a pretty good overview of the history. If it misses anything/downplays anything on account of it being a british-positive source please make me aware!
If you have other information to argue against the idea that the faulkland islanders view themselves as british and want to remain a territory, please enlighten me. (I'm being genuine here!!)
But from what I can see, the Islanders want to stay a territory. As shown by the 2013 referendum. They view themselves as british.
