Argentina’s attempt to defend their world title is no longer being clouded by ordinary tournament controversy; it is being overshadowed by a mounting perception that the world champions are playing under different disciplinary and VAR standards from everyone else.
The suspicion that FIFA disproportionately favours Lionel Messi and Argentina has long existed among fans. Now, however, it is increasingly being voiced by federations, coaches, players, pundits, and analysts, with some explicitly claiming that the World Cup is already being handed to La Albiceleste and that matches are being rigged by FIFA. Yesterday’s round-of-16 drama against Egyptand the circumstances surrounding Argentina’s victory only added fuel to the existing tensions.
Argentine Football Establishment Facing Growing Scrutiny
That wider atmosphere matters because the scrutiny around Argentina is no longer limited to what happens on the football pitch. Just as the world champions prepare for another quarter-final, the institution behind them is facing a separate reputational storm. La Nación reported that, in the middle of the World Cup in the United States, American federal prosecutors and FBI agents began taking testimony about the Argentine Football Association’s (AFA) financial operations in the country.
According to the report, investigators are examining how the AFA, chaired by Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia, channelled hundreds of millions of dollars through the US financial system, and whether any operations could amount to money laundering or bank fraud under American jurisdiction.
At the centre of the reported inquiry is TourProdEnter LLC, a company that administered AFA international commercial contracts. There is no public indictment, and AFA representatives have stressed the presumption of innocence. The timing, nevertheless, is damaging: Argentina’s football establishment is now facing both institutional and competitive scrutiny, just as its team again advances amid a storm of favourable and contested refereeing decisions.
The Dirty Football of La Albiceleste
The Egypt match turned that controversy into the defining scandal of the current tournament. After Argentina’s 3–2 comeback win, the Egyptian Football Association filed a formal complaint with FIFA over referee François Letexier and his team, criticizing the use of VAR and arguing that several decisions affected the outcome. Reuters reported that the complaint centred on the disallowed goal scored by Mostafa Ziko and the denial of a late Egypt penalty appeal involving Hamdy Fathy before Enzo Fernández’s stoppage-time winner.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan went much further. In his post-match interview, he called the officiating ‘unfair’ and claimed the World Cup was being ‘directed towards Argentina’. He argued that Argentina had succeeded in pressuring the referee and that Egypt had been denied justice in the decisive moments.
Yesterday’s game did indeed include some of the most controversial refereeing calls of the tournament, beyond the two missed penalties, as footage of those incidents went viral on social media. Argentina’s centre-back pairing of Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martínez repeatedly delivered aggressive and dangerous challenges, including reckless two-footed tackles, without receiving bookings. Atlético Madrid’s Nahuel Molina grabbed an Egypt player’s throat while tracking back in an absurd move, again without any sanction, despite the incident taking place directly in front of the referee. It is no exaggeration to say that Mohamed Salah could be grateful simply to have survived the game. And those were only the most outrageous tackles; that does not even address the punching, pinching, and other dirty tactics frequently used by the team.
Despite being among the most aggressive and unpleasant teams to play against, Argentina have been booked least frequently relative to fouls committed among the eight quarter-finalists: one card every 22 fouls, compared with Spain every 17.5, Norway every 13.6, France every 12.2, Switzerland every 11.5, Belgium every ten, Morocco every 9.8, and England every seven.
Pundits also questioned the consistency of the VAR interventions. Reuters cited Rob Green, Alan Shearer, Ian Wright, and Jamie Carragher among those scrutinizing the disallowed Egypt goal and the non-awarded penalty. Shearer’s basic point was the most damaging: if VAR was willing to go back to punish Egypt in the build-up to Ziko’s goal, why was similar scrutiny not applied to the challenge on Salah or the pull on Fathy before Argentina’s winner?
‘The scandal grew further after FIFA appointed an all-Argentine on-field refereeing crew for France’s quarter-final against Morocco’
The online reaction showed how widely the suspicion had spread. A four-minute compilation of Argentinian players committing dirty fouls and escaping bookings went viral within hours on X, garnering more than ten million views in less than 12 hours before it was removed, citing copyright issues. The disappearance of the clip further fed the conspiratorial mood, sparking accusations that FIFA was trying to remove the video to avoid being exposed. The uploader also claimed that X repeatedly notified him that FIFA was requesting the content’s removal and that his access to the account had become subject to repeated verification checks
A separate clip appeared to show Alexis Mac Allister covering his mouth while speaking towards Egypt’s bench. That mattered because FIFA and IFAB approved a 2026 World Cup measure allowing, at the organizer’s discretion, a red card for a player covering his mouth in a confrontational situation to conceal discriminatory or inappropriate behaviour. Mac Allister did not receive a red card.
The scandal grew further after FIFA appointed an all-Argentine on-field refereeing crew for France’s quarter-final against Morocco. The Times of India reported that it was the first match of the 2026 World Cup in which all five on-field officials came from the same country. The decision sparked immediate outrage among French supporters, given that France are widely regarded as Argentina’s most likely opponents in the final, with critics suggesting that the all-Argentine officiating team might give Morocco an inappropriate advantage.
The controversy fuelled by France’s 1–0 victory over Paraguay, where the Latin American team used a similarly dirty and physical tactic against Kylian Mbappé’s side, committing foul after foul and yet finishing without a single card, while France ended the match with three yellows. Some have already described that as an effort by FIFA to make it harder for France to reach the final, thereby eventually giving Argentina a more favourable opponent.
FIFA and Its Most Valuable Asset
The reason these claims resonate is that Qatar 2022 already created the template. Argentina were awarded a World Cup-record five penalties during the previous tournament, with Messi taking all of them. The penalty against Poland was widely criticized; Rio Ferdinand called it ‘disgraceful’, while Alan Shearer said it was ‘never ever a penalty’. Against the Netherlands, the ‘Battle of Lusail’ produced a World Cup-record 18 yellow cards and one red. However, Messi still got away with an unbooked handball, despite VAR also being in operation at the time.
The 2022 semi-final against Croatia produced another major grievance. Luka Modrić called referee Daniele Orsato ‘a disaster’ after Argentina were awarded a penalty following a debated call on Dominik Livaković’s collision with Julián Álvarez, saying the decision killed the match. After Portugal’s defeat to Morocco, Pepe attacked the appointment of Argentine referee Facundo Tello, accusing him of deliberately officiating against Portugal to make the tournament easier for Argentina. ‘FIFA can now give the title to Argentina. I can bet that Argentina will be champions,’ Pepe said mockingly.
The Egypt match was not the first to show a similar pattern in the current World Cup either. Algeria lodged a FIFA complaint after Messi escaped punishment for a studs-up challenge on Aissa Mandi in Argentina’s group-stage win. An Algerian federation source said the challenge deserved a red card and claimed VAR ignored clear incidents. No public sanction followed. The incident was later compared to US striker Folarin Balogun’s immediate red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina, highlighting the inconsistency and favourable rulings towards Argentina.
‘Messi fronts 22 per cent of World Cup ad campaigns’
Why FIFA might be interested in Argentina and Messi not being eliminated early in the tournament is not difficult to understand. FIFA’s own 2023–26 budget is expected to reach about $13 billion, with almost $9 billion generated in 2026 alone. Mappr, drawing on FIFA’s reporting and market estimates, likewise put the 2026 World Cup’s direct contribution at roughly $8.9 billion, with the expanded tournament becoming the biggest payday in FIFA history.
FIFA does not publish a Messi-specific revenue figure, so any direct estimate of how much he is ‘worth’ to the governing body would be speculative. But the indirect evidence is clear. Inside World Football reported that Messi fronts 22 per cent of World Cup ad campaigns, appears in campaigns for major FIFA sponsors including Adidas, Michelob Ultra, and Lay’s, and brings a social-media audience of more than 630 million Instagram followers. It also cited Nielsen data from Qatar 2022 ranking Messi as the second-most commercially powerful footballer at the tournament, generating about $2.6 million in media value per post, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo.
In a World Cup economy driven by broadcast audiences, sponsors, licensing, digital engagement, and premium ticket demand, Messi’s continued presence is not merely a sporting storyline but a commercial asset of extraordinary value.
That, of course, does not prove that FIFA is protecting him or Argentina. But it explains why critics see a potential conflict between sporting neutrality and commercial incentive. When the tournament’s most valuable narrative asset is also the player repeatedly benefiting, or appearing to benefit, from disputed decisions, suspicions of institutional bias become far harder to dismiss.
Argentina face Switzerland next, and every foul, VAR check, and card will be watched under more than extraordinary scrutiny. That alone could put pressure on the team that even Messi’s genius, or any favourable call, may not be able to fix.
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