England are unlikely to play Argentina as part of the Football Association's 150th anniversary celebrations and instead a tour of Brazil may be on the cards.
A match against Argentina in 2013 had been the subject of talks during England's 2018 World Cup campaign but the chances of that have faded since the bid's failure. FA insiders insist there is no connection to the vitriolic attack by Argentina's FIFA vice-president Julio Grondona in Zurich last week.
A decision on the 150th anniversary games will be linked to England's preparations for the World Cup in Brazil the following year. One possible idea is that England could go on a tour of the country, perhaps playing in different World Cup venues.
England have not played in Brazil since 1984 when John Barnes' wonder goal set up a 2-0 victory.
It has also been mooted England could take part in a Home Nations tournament but that would involve using up all their friendly dates.
The Argentina game was talked up by England bid chiefs as recently as November, but no contract was signed.
Guillermo Tofoni, who is in charge of Argentina's fixture list, was under the impression the match in 2013 would take place however.
A planned friendly for February this year had to be cancelled due to travel times for the Argentina players and Tofoni said then: "The two matches are still on. We already have the one in August 2013 for the 150th anniversary of the FA, at Wembley. We need to find a window for the first one."
If that fails to materialise it will not have been the first friendly organised on the back of England's 2018 bid to have bitten the dust.
A friendly against Thailand planned for this Wednesday was cancelled by the FA following the 2018 bid defeat.
Source: PA
