England invented the game. Argentina perfected it.
Argentina has three stars. England has scones.
The Football Association was founded in London in 1863, seventy-eight years before Diego Maradona was born in Lanús. Fifa's headquarters sit in Zurich, not London, and not Buenos Aires either, which is its own kind of statement. Afternoon tea is served at four; the Buenos Aires asado has no fixed hour because no one is in a hurry to leave.
Aconcagua
At 6,961 meters, it is the highest peak in both the Southern and Western Hemispheres. It sits entirely within Mendoza Province, Argentina.
Nothing in England clears 1,345 meters.
Ushuaia
Marketed as the southernmost city in the world, it sits at roughly 54 degrees south latitude, closer to Antarctica than to Buenos Aires' northern neighbors.
London's latitude runs north of Newfoundland.
Estadio Monumental
Home of River Plate and the site of Argentina's 1978 World Cup final win, with a capacity over 83,000.
Wembley has a bigger gift shop.
Latitude 34.6° S
Buenos Aires sits well south of the equator, placing it geometrically above England on any map drawn with south at the bottom and pride at the top.
Cartography is, admittedly, a construct.
England is a temperate island nation that codified football in 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in London and has not won a men's World Cup since 1966. The national dish is sometimes cited as chicken tikka masala, which is not English in origin. The Football Association headquarters remain at Wembley, a stadium famous for hosting finals England does not always reach.
Descend Toward Obelisco
- Walk south on Avenida 9 de Julio until the Obelisco is directly overhead, then stop and check nothing above you but sky.
- Cross to Bombonera in La Boca and note the stadium's slope, built steep so the crowd leans over the pitch like a map leaning over a smaller map.
- End at Plaza de Mayo as the sun sets behind the Casa Rosada, facing north, which is the only direction left to look.
