The World Cup’s biggest conspiracy theory has gone into overdrive off the back of Argentina’s thrilling 3-2 win against Egypt on Wednesday morning.
The outcry against the refereeing as the reigning world champions scored three goals in the space of 14 minutes to snatch victory from the jaws of the defeat has even managed to overshadow the scandal of USA striker’s Folarin Balogun red card being overturned.
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In that case, the conspiracy quickly disappeared.
US President Donald Trump admitted that he called FIFA president Gianni Infantino and requested Balogun’s suspension be overturned.
Whereas in the case of Argentina, the scathing words of Egypt’s coach Hossam Hassan, goal scorer Mostafa Zico and the Egyptian Football Federation’s official statement are ringing in football people’s ears the world over.
But there is nothing to prove their claims.
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Zico had a goal disallowed by VAR for a foul in the build-up, well before he found the back of the net.
A similar incident went unpunished in the lead-up to Enzo Fernandez’s 93rd minute winner.
The contrast led Zico to allege that the referees conspired against the North Africans who eliminated Australia in a Round of 32 penalty shootout.
“The referee has robbed a whole nation of its efforts,” Zico said.
“Congratulations, Argentina, on winning the World Cup.”
Hassan shared similar sentiments in his fiery press conference where he also referred to Mohamed Salah being denied a penalty despite being the Egyptians’ protests.
“I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice,” he said.
While in an official statement president of the Egyptian Football Federation Hany Aburida also “demanded the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes and proving the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team”.
The explosive comments have received strong support all around the world.
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani said Egypt were “robbed”, while football fans on social media have been quick to point to other oddities surrounding Argentina.
France’s quarter-final against Argentina will consist of an all-Argentine group of referees.
That has sparked outrage among fans as the defending champions’ seemingly easier path through the knockout stage.
Bubbling away under the surface is that Argentina have a long history of being closely connected to World Cup conspiracy theories.
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ARE THE REFS FAVOURING ARGENTINA?
The comments from the Egyptians were clear and the claim that Argentina get more favourable treatment from the referees simply will not go away.
It has been a feature of past World Cups, particularly in Qatar four years ago as the Argentine’s prevailed to add World Cup champion to Lionel Messi’s illustrious resume.
And it came to the fore in their opening game of this tournament as Messi avoided a sanction for a studs up challenge on Algeria captain Aïssa Mandi.
The referee awarded a free kick but kept his cards in his pocket.
Messi had already scored one goal at that point, but went on to bag two more to complete in his first World Cup hat-trick in a 3-0 win for Argentina.
Algeria filed an official complaint about the refereeing post-game and former Venezuela forward Ale Moreno said on ESPN: “It’s 100 per cent a red card.”
“It plays along this narrative that great players get preferential treatment,” Moreno added.
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The Messi non-red card was in the spotlight as many deemed it to be similar to Balogun’s dismissal against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Debate raged around whether Messi had benefited from favouritism, but former Premier League referee Graham Scott insisted that is not the case.
“Few referees would have dismissed him for the challenge — not because it was Messi but because there was no intent or intensity in his actions,” he told The Athletic.
“Bear in mind that the ref was Szymon Marciniak, who was in charge of the 2022 World Cup final. We are not talking about a novice.”
“The very best (referees) can set all prejudice aside and judge each incident on its merits and in context, and every ref will swear that they are always striving to do so,” Scott added.
“But there are few officials who can achieve this goal absolutely, as all know that the scrutiny that will follow an incorrect red card shown to a legend of the game will be unbearable. We’re only human.”
To put football fans’ perceptions about Argentina and the referees to the test, The Sun’s Charlie Gordon crunched the numbers.
The journalist found that on average, Argentina have been shown one card for every 19.6 fouls they have committed at this World Cup.
The defending champions have received three cards in their five matches so far this tournament, but committed 59 fouls in total.
Only Erling Haaland’s Norway have a better card-to-foul ratio as they only received two cards from 48 fouls so far.
Based on the numbers, the dirtiest team in the final eight are the Three Lions.
“With just 6.75 fouls committed per card shown, England are bottom of the list by miles,” Gordon added.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have been shown seven yellows as well as Jarell Quansah’s red card against Mexico.
HAVE ARGENTINA BEEN HANDED A FAVOURABLE DRAW?
Another stigma surrounding Argentina is that they have received a very friendly path towards the latter stages of the World Cup.
That was by design by FIFA.
The governing body announced last year that the top four teams in the world rankings – France, Spain, Argentina and England – would be seeded in the World Cup draw.
It meant that if they all topped their respective groups, they could not meet until the semi-finals.
The principle is the same as how the draw works in tennis’ grand slams where the seeded players cannot face each other until the later stages of the tournament.
For example, world No.1 Jannik Sinner will meet seventh seed Novak Djokovic in a Wimbledon semi-final on Friday.
Sinner could not possibly meet second set Alexander Zverev until the final.
It has done to ensure that blockbuster matches happen at the pointy end of the tournament.
With all of four seeded nations topping their group this World Cup, the same will be true.
But despite that fact, there has been criticism of Argentina meeting tiny nation Cabo Verde in the Round of 32 before facing Egypt in the Round of 16.
After FIFA president Gianni Infantino inserted Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami into last year’s new-look Club World Cup despite them not being the MLS champions, there is a strong belief that Infantino makes sure Messi stays in his tournaments for as long as possible because the Argentine legend is good for business.
Regardless when the draw was released, the tiny island nation off the coast of Africa were given a one per cent chance of finishing second in their group ahead of Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.
Argentina were not awarded a third place finisher like other nations that topped their group, and many of would have expected a South American showdown with two-time champions Uruguay in the Round of 32.
No one certainly would have predicted Cabo Verde to then take Argentina to extra-time.
“That was for those who said we had an easy run in the draw,” Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni told reporters after their 3-2 victory against the nation with a population of a little more than half a million people.
“Sure, we deserved to win and go through, but it was an extremely difficult match.”
The nature of the expanded 48-team format with an added knockout round means that lesser ranked teams are going to make it through.
And there are naturally going to be inconsistencies with one side of a draw stronger than the other.
Argentina will meet England in the semi-finals if Messi’s men defeat Switzerland and Harry Kane’s side overcome Norway.
Neither team will have faced a top-ten ranked nation if they make it to the final four.
Whereas on the other side of the draw, Spain will have beaten fifth-ranked Portugal and ninth-ranked Belgium if they reach the semi-finals.
While France play seventh-ranked Morocco in the quarter-finals, who faced fellow top ten nation the Netherlands in the Round of 32.
What it really says is seedings and rankings are imperfect.
Teams, or individuals depending on the sport, will always perform above or below expectations.
There are many tennis aficionados that believe Sinner and Djokovic should be the final at Wimbledon, but that is simply the luck of the draw.
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IS HAVING ALL THE REFEREES FROM ONE COUNTRY COMMON?
Eyebrows were raised when FIFA announced the referees for France’s quarter-final against Morocco would all be Argentines.
It is an unprecedented move at a World Cup.
It has been common for a collective of referees from one country to be on the same game as they have experience officiating together.
For example, the referee and two assistant referees for England’s thrilling 3-2 win against Mexico in the Round of 16 were all Australian.
But the fourth official and the reserve assistant referee were from Morocco.
It has never happened at a World Cup before that all five have hailed from the same country.
The suggestion is that the Argentine officials could sabotage tournament favourites France, who Argentina defeated in the last World Cup final.
But the French are not letting such insinuations get to them
“We have to deal with it. I trust the referees. Our opponent is Morocco, not the referee,” France coach Didier Deschamps said.
But Deschamps could not resist making a tongue in cheek comment in reference to the officiating in Argentina’s win over Egypt.
“Let’s hope our [officials] are as good as Monsieur Letexier was,” he told reporters.
While reserve goalkeeper Robin Risser said: “There’s been a certain bitterness [between France and Argentina] for a few years now since the last final, but that’s part of the game.
“If these referees are there, it’s because they’re up to the level of the competition.”
ARGENTINA’S HISTORY OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES
One of the biggest reasons why Argentina have been at the centre of such speculation is because they have history.
There is also a cloud of uncertainty surrounding their current regime.
Argentine newspaper La Nación recently reported, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the Argentina Football Association for possible money laundering involving an estimated US$300 million.
But in the past, all the same claims being made in 2026 have been raised.
After Argentina defeated the Netherlands on penalties in the quarter-finals in Qatar four years ago, Dutch manager Louis Van Gaal gave an interview the following year saying his team had copped the rough end of the stick.
“When you see how Argentina got their goals and how we got our goals, and how some Argentina players overstepped the mark and were not punished, yeah, then I think it was all premeditated,” the former Manchester United boss told Dutch outlet NOS
Asked whether he meant “that Messi had to become world champion”, Van Gaal replied: “I think so, yes.”
Argentina lost the 1990 World Cup final in Italy to West Germany, but were allegedly involved in act of sabotage before their Round of 16 victory against rivals Brazil.
Brazil player Branco claimed he felt dizzy after drinking from a water bottle allegedly handed to him by the Argentine physiotherapist.
Almost 15 years later, Argentina’s 1990 coach Carlos Bilardo said of the water bottle claim in an interview: “I’m not saying it didn’t happen.”
While Argentina’s first World Cup triumph in 1978 is alleged to have involved corruption.
Under the old 16-team format, there were two group stages.
After the second group stage, the top team of each group would play off in the final.
Tournament hosts Argentina needed to beat Peru by four goals to qualify.
They won 6-0 and the rest is history.
But in 2012, Peruvian senator Genaro Ledesma told a court in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires that a deal had been struck by Argentina’s dictator Jorge Rafael Videla and Peru’s president Francisco Morales Bermudez.
The deal allowed Bermudez to send 13 political dissidents to be imprisoned in Argentina in return for the host nation’s passage to the World Cup final.
“Videla needed to win the World Cup to cleanse Argentina’s bad image around the world, so he only accepted the group if Peru allowed the Argentina national team to triumph,” Ledesma said.
They are far more wild tales than those that surround Argentina this World Cup.
But even the current allegations are unproven, they will persist as long as Argentina remain in the tournament.