The clash between Argentina and England in the soccer World Cup semi-final on Wednesday is freighted with history and rivalry, but also represents an interesting contrast of evolving national identities and how they play out on a global stage.

England, once the epitome of a team that stuck to ideas of nationhood defined by their supposed superiority to others — having invented the game, they declined to take part in the first three World Cups — now has a more inclusive approach, reflecting the country's increasing diversity and multicultural make-up.

Argentina's sense of national identity, by contrast, remains rooted in an origin myth from the 1920s, which in many ways was set up in direct opposition to the English, cultural historians say.