Argentina have reached the semi-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where they will face England on Wednesday in Atlanta. While Lionel Messi’s performances have played a major role in the team’s success, their journey has also sparked widespread debate online.
Across social media, many users have shared conspiracy theories claiming FIFA has favoured the defending champions during the tournament. Although there is no evidence to support these claims, AI-generated videos and memes have added fuel to the discussion. Some of the content features FIFA President Gianni Infantino alongside Messi in fictional scenes, while others edit Infantino’s image into Argentina’s national flag.
Several controversial refereeing decisions have become the centre of these online discussions, with critics questioning whether Argentina has received favourable treatment.
One of the biggest incidents happened during Argentina’s group-stage victory over Algeria. In the first half, Messi appeared to rake his studs down the leg of Algeria captain Aissa Mandi. Polish referee Szymon Marciniak awarded a free kick but did not show Messi a card. The Argentine captain remained on the pitch and later completed a hat-trick.
Many football analysts believed the challenge deserved a sending-off.
“It should have been a red card in my opinion,” said ESPN pundit and former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha.
“Messi knew he did something that could have got him in trouble. I personally feel it is a red card.”
Former Bundesliga referee Patrick Ittrich shared the same opinion, saying, “For me, that is a red card. We have various examples from the Bundesliga where that was punished with a red. By the letter of the law, that is a red. If I had seen it like that on the pitch, I would have shown red.”
Following the match, the Algerian Football Federation lodged an official complaint with FIFA over what it described as refereeing injustice.
Questions over officiating continued after Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 comeback victory against Egypt in the Round of 16. Argentina recovered from two goals down to qualify for the quarter-finals, but several decisions by referee Francois Letexier angered the Egyptian team.
The biggest controversy surrounded an Egypt goal that was cancelled after VAR reviewed an earlier foul involving an Argentine player. The review happened several phases before Mostafa Zico found the net, leading many observers to question whether VAR had gone beyond its intended purpose.
“VAR was looking at something too deeply and looking for something that has happened in the game to try to cancel the Egypt goal,” former FIFA referee Mark Clattenburg said.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan also believed his side should have received a penalty before Enzo Fernandez scored Argentina’s winning goal.
“There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome,” Hassan said.
“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition?” he told BeIn Sports.
“Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running? In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects.”
FIFA’s head of referees, Pierluigi Collina, dismissed those accusations, describing them as “unfounded.”
Another refereeing decision attracted attention during Argentina’s quarter-final victory over Switzerland. Initially, Leandro Paredes was shown a yellow card after a challenge on Breel Embolo. However, VAR later ruled that Embolo had simulated the incident under FIFA’s new mistaken identity rule. The decision was reversed, and because Embolo had already been booked earlier, he received a second yellow card, which resulted in his dismissal. Switzerland were reduced to ten men before Argentina went on to win in extra time.
After the game, Switzerland coach Murat Yakin criticised the rule.
“We were punished because of a rule that, in my opinion, is completely unacceptable,” Swiss coach Murat Yakin said afterwards.
Others defended the officials, insisting the correct decision had been made.
“If you want to argue FIFA is rigging the World Cup for Lionel Messi and Argentina, and some of you are hellbent on doing just that, you’re going to have to do better than this,” wrote USA Today columnist Nancy Armour.
Some critics have also argued that Argentina benefited from an easier route to the semi-finals because they have not faced one of the world’s highest-ranked teams. Their opponents so far have included Algeria, Jordan, Austria, Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland.
However, the tournament bracket was determined by FIFA’s seeding system, which separated the top four-ranked nations until the semi-finals. England have also avoided playing a top-10 ranked nation before the last four, while France met seventh-ranked Morocco in the quarter-finals. Spain have had the toughest journey, defeating both fifth-ranked Portugal and ninth-ranked Belgium to book their place in the semi-finals.
