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Messi's Argentina: Adored Star, Distrusted Team on World Cup Brink
🇳🇬 Nigeria /Sports

Messi's Argentina: Adored Star, Distrusted Team on World Cup Brink

From Premium Times · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Argentina is one match away from defending its World Cup title, but the team faces widespread suspicion and accusations of benefiting from favorable officiating.
  • Despite a petition calling for their expulsion and widespread belief in biased calls, official statistics tracked by Archivo VAR show Argentina on the wrong end of most major decisions.
  • Controversies include a disallowed Egyptian goal and two denied penalty appeals in the Round of 16, which Egypt's federation officially complained about, though FIFA defended the refereeing.

Argentina stands on the brink of defending its World Cup title, yet the team it captains has become the most distrusted side remaining in the 2026 tournament. Ahead of Sunday's final against Spain, the mood surrounding the Albiceleste is not one of celebration but suspicion, with online mockery labeling them "VARgentina."

It is a jarring duality: adore the man, resent the team.

Describing the public perception of Lionel Messi and the Argentinian team.

A petition demanding Argentina's expulsion has reportedly garnered millions of signatures. In Chile, a significant majority believe officiating has consistently favored Argentina. This stark contrast highlights a peculiar duality: Lionel Messi, the team's captain, remains universally beloved for his humble and generational talent, adored far beyond Argentina's borders. However, the team he leads faces widespread resentment.

No card was shown, and Messi finished the match with a hat-trick.

Detailing an incident where Messi was not carded for a challenge.

One incident that arguably aided Argentina, a potential red card for Messi stepping on an opponent's calf in the group stage, received little attention. Archivo VAR, which monitors officiating decisions, noted this as the only call that truly benefited Argentina, and even that was borderline. Their tracking indicates Argentina was on the wrong end of five out of six major decisions, with three requiring VAR intervention.

By their count, Argentina were actually on the wrong end of five of the six major decisions reviewed, three of which required VAR intervention to rectify an on-field mistake.

— Archivo VARPresenting data on officiating decisions affecting Argentina.

The controversy escalated in the Round of 16 against Egypt. With Egypt leading and nearing their first-ever World Cup quarter-final, a goal was disallowed for a marginal foul in the buildup. Later, two separate penalty appeals by Egypt were waved away before Argentina scored a stoppage-time winner. Egypt's federation lodged a formal complaint, alleging serious errors and double standards, with their coach suggesting FIFA aimed to keep Messi's team in the competition. FIFA, through its refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina, defended the officiating in the latter incident, stating the ball was won before contact occurred.

claiming he saw no fair play in the decision.

— Hossam HassanThe Egyptian coach's reaction to a disallowed goal.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Premium Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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