Did freezing Kane's sticker work? Argentina's secret weapon may be 'cábalas'

Argentina's advance to the 2026 North and Central America World Cup final after beating England 2-1 in the semifinals has put a spotlight on the pre-match rituals of Argentine fans.

Reuters on Wednesday highlighted the pregame behavior of Argentine supporters ahead of the match, reporting that fans "froze stickers of England players and repeated pre-match rituals while cheering passionately," performing a pregame tradition known as "cábalas" to wish their team victory.

One Argentine fan performed a ritual of placing a sticker of England captain Harry Kane in her freezer.

She told Reuters: "Every time we get together with friends during this World Cup, we freeze the opposing team's players. We put the star player and the goalkeeper on the same piece of paper and freeze them — and we always use the same glass."

Another fan wore the same jersey, unwashed, to every match.

"This is a really great jersey — I always wear it when I play soccer with my friends," he said. "For the semifinals and the final, since tomorrow is the England match, I'm going to wear the jersey my father used to wear."

"I wore this shirt at the last World Cup and we won," he added. "So I'm going to wear it again."

Reuters noted that fans also share AI-generated images of opposing players trapped in ice, a sign that the rituals are evolving with the times.

Meanwhile, in the match held at a stadium in Atlanta, Argentina conceded the opening goal to England in the 55th minute but rallied to claim a dramatic victory — Enzo Fernandez equalizing in the 86th minute before Lautaro Martinez scored the winner in the 92nd minute.

Argentina will face Spain, known as "Invincible Armada," in the final at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.