For the first time in the history of football, the two oldest classics in the world will be played on the same day: this Friday Argentina and Uruguay will be measured by group A of the Copa América at the Mané Garrincha stadium in Brasilia and England and Scotland will meet at Wembley for Euro 2020.
These confrontations coexisted for 120 years but chance had never found them together on the same day. The British staged the first international confrontation of all time, on November 30, 1872 in Partick, Scotland. In previous years, various matches had been organized between English and London residents who represented Scotland in some way, although those matches are not recognized by FIFA, which did endorse that 0-0 in 1872 as official.
Almost thirty years later in Montevideo, Uruguay and Argentina they met in the first match between selected outside the United Kingdom. On July 20, 1902, the visitor won 6-0 in a match featuring mostly native players from … Scotland and England. That day, the British had already met 30 times on the distant islands.
The Rio de la Plata classic is the international duel with the most editions in the world, since they played 192 opportunities. The British are fourth, behind Austria-Hungary and the Netherlands-Belgium. In any case, there are no two clashes that have coexisted for longer than those that will be played once again this Friday.
Not counting that first confrontation in November, Scots and English played until the end of the 1960s always in March and April. At first they were simple friendships, but from 1884 to 1984 they did so within the framework of the British Home Championship, a tournament between the four teams representing Great Britain that for a long time was the most important on the planet.
For calendar reasons, Argentina and Uruguay played few times in those same months, so it was difficult for the classics to coincide. The South Americans did measure themselves much more often, since between 1906 and 1945 they did it several times a year (in 1924 there were nine). By 1930 they had played more than a hundred games, when on the other side of the ocean they had barely passed 40.
Lipton Cup, Newton Cup, Argentine Honor Cup, Uruguayan Honor Cup, May Revolution Centennial Cup, South American tournament … the opportunities for the River Plate duel were crowding while in Europe the wars and the different organization of the tournaments forced to play alone once a year. Most of the games in the Río de la Plata were played between August and October.
It is difficult to choose a handful of matches to describe these rivalries that are more related to the way of life of the people than football itself. Argentina and Uruguay defined the first World Cup and also the 1928 Olympic Games and several South Americans. In addition, for years they were the best selected not only from America but from the entire world. England and Scotland do not have the same tradition in finals but they do have an indescribable historical relevance, since they were the ones who spread the game around the world.
The British classic will be played for the second time in the Euro. The previous occasion was in 1996 and ended with an English victory 2-0. In addition, they played in the Qualifiers for Russia 2018 (local win in London and a draw) and for Euro 2000 (one win per side). These are the only antecedents of crashes by official tournaments, beyond the aforementioned British Home Championship and of the Rous cup which replaced it until 1989.
Maybe for that reason It took England over a hundred years to beat Scotland., beyond the fact that some have been world champions and others never in their history managed to overcome a group stage.
The classic River Plate, on the other hand, has a thousand chapters. From those amateur duels to a heads-up in the World Cup round of 16 with Diego Maradona on the field, passing through the fight for the supremacy of world football on European soil. There is no way to encompass the vastness of this rivalry.
In 1973 it was when we were closest to seeing the two great world duels on the same day. On May 17, Argentina and Uruguay drew 1-1 in Buenos Aires for the Lipton Cup, while two days later England won at Wembley for the British Home Championship.