<\/p>\n
The signs were all there that the 2026 FIFA World Cup would be different.<\/p>\n
In December 2025, amid uncertainty over how hosts the United States\u2019 attempts to crack down on immigration and threats to bar protest-filled cities from hosting matches, the most powerful man in world football, Gianni Infantino, awarded US President Donald Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize.<\/p>\n
Already drawing ire from a close relationship with Trump, the move drew worldwide condemnation, as well as fears for what would come next.<\/p>\n
Australian footballing royalty Craig Foster labelled it \u2018a shameful day for the beautiful game\u2019, writing on X that the award \u2018stains the reputation of Infantino, FIFA, and places football as an enabler of Trump\u2019s attacks on international law, multilateral systems, on justice, and accountability\u2019.<\/p>\n
It would prove a portent of what was to come.<\/p>\n
No World Cup is complete without accusations of corruption, contentious decisions, and claims the host nation and the tournament\u2019s biggest superstars have had plenty of chips fall their way.<\/p>\n
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\u2018Robbed a whole nation\u2019: Messi\u2019s tears as ugly VAR furore erupts<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n \u2018Cheated\u2019: Burnt nation goes all-in on \u2018rigged\u2019 claims in extraordinary interviews<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Italians will never forgive FIFA or referee Byron Moreno for the extraordinary circumstances that saw them eliminated from the 2002 edition by co-hosts South Korea, while Australia\u2019s own FFA infamously spent tens of millions on an ill-fated bid to host the 2022 tournament that eventually went to Qatar via an unprecedented bribery scandal.<\/p>\n At face value, this year\u2019s World Cup is little different.<\/p>\n As the tournament began, the first barrage was directed at the introduction of two hydration breaks nicely dividing each half into, well, quarters; ostensibly to help players deal with the not-so-searing heat of mid-year North America.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s 24 degrees in Mexico City, apparently. So that hydration break can get in the bin. Absolutely putrid,\u201d was Australian football expert Vince Rugari\u2019s biting analysis on X.<\/p>\n The Guardian\u2019s chief sports writer Barney Ronay went even further<\/a>, calling it \u2018an abomination, a desecration of the basic fabric of the sport, enacted by sleight of hand, and completely unnecessary in this form\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cWith breathtaking chutzpah, Fifa has made football into a game of four quarters, has crossed a line nobody thought possible, and done it right under our noses,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Controversy of a more standard sort has continually revolved around reigning champions Argentina, and in particular the great Lionel Messi, still the biggest drawcard at his sixth World Cup.<\/p>\n Algeria were left fuming in the group stage when a studs-up challenge by the 39-year old raked rival captain Aissa Mandi<\/a>.<\/p>\n Messi leads all-time escape in comeback | 02:02<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s 100 per cent a red card for Lionel Messi,\u201d declared former Venezuelan striker Ale Moreno on ESPN.<\/p>\n Yet Messi would avoid being booked completely, prompting a furious Algeria to lodge a formal complaint with FIFA amid universal condemntation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that this wasn\u2019t even looked at will set a precedent,\u201d former Scottish great Craig Burley opined on ESPN.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do you then go back and officiate it differently? You can\u2019t, even if it\u2019s Lionel Messi.\u201d<\/p>\n Such was the furore that the initial reaction to Folarin Balogun\u2019s red card for a similar tackle in Team USA\u2019s round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina was outrage at a supposed double standard, with a \u201cFree Flo\u201d campaign spreading rapidly among both fans and the US media.<\/p>\n The controversy followed Messi and Argentina through to the round of 16, where a contentious, thrilling win over Socceroos conquerors Egypt saw player Mostafa Zico and coach Hossam Hassan launch emotional tirades at the officiating.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running,\u201d Hassan told BeIn Sports.<\/p>\n \u201cIn football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champions received support at every level.\u201d<\/p>\n Having had a crucial goal controversially disallowed due to a foul in the build up discovered by the VAR \u2013 English journalist Henry Winter quipped on X \u201cIf VAR had gone back any further in that Egyptian move Tutankhamun would be involved\u201d – Zico didn\u2019t hold back in a post-match interview.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what happened in the second half. Strange things happened that everyone saw. It was as clear as the sun in broad daylight,\u201d the 29-year old said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe referee has robbed a whole nation of its efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cCongratulations, Argentina, on winning the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n Those questions won\u2019t be going away anytime soon \u2013 even in matches not involving the South Americans.<\/p>\n Tournament favourite France\u2019s quarter-final date with Morocco on Friday morning (AEST) is doing conspiracy theorists\u2019 work for them, featuring not only an Argentinian referee Facundo Tello, but two Argentinian assistant referees, an Argentinian fourth official and an Argentinian reserve assistant ref.<\/p>\n And all that\u2019s before the big, orange elephant in the room.<\/p>\n influence from politicians goes hand in hand with World Cups.<\/p>\n But the previous clubhouse leader for sketchy orders from above – Argentina\u2019s dictatorial General Jorge Videla and USA Secretary of State Henry Kissinger\u2019s appearance in Peru\u2019s rooms before losing 6-0 to La Albiceleste in 1974, allowing them to leapfrog Brazil on goal difference and advance to the final under now-antiquated knockout rules \u2013 got its greatest ever challenger when FIFA, on the urging of President Trump, froze Balogun\u2019s mandatory red card suspension to free him to face a furious Belgium.<\/p>\n FIFA\u2019s public position maintains that Trump\u2019s personal urging of Infantino was irrelevant to the decision, with Infantino officially stating: \u201cFIFA\u2019s judicial bodies are independent.<\/p>\n \u201cThey operate autonomously, apply the FIFA Disciplinary Code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them. Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected,\u201d his statement reads.<\/p>\n It was never going to pass muster; especially not with Trump proclaiming to all that would hear that \u201cI\u2019m the one who got them to do it\u201d.<\/p>\n Former Liverpool Premier League-winning manager \u2013 and new Germany coach – Jurgen Klopp has led the charge in response.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is our sport, not theirs,\u201d Klopp said of the controversy on Germany\u2019s MagentaTV.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino really sorted this out between themselves, it is madness. It calls everything into question.\u201d<\/p>\n