<\/p>\n
Argentina\u2019s players rejoice after winning the 2026 World Cup football tournament quarter-final match between Argentina and Switzerland on the Kansas City Stadium in Kansas City on July 11, 2026. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU \/ AFP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Lionel Messi\u2019s brilliance has helped carry Argentina right into a blockbuster World Cup semifinal with England in Atlanta on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
However the defending champions\u2019 journey to the last 4 has been engulfed by online conspiracy theories claiming \u2014 without evidence \u2014 that the playing field has been tilted in its favor.<\/p>\n
Social media is awash with AI-generated videos and memes that amplify this narrative, whether it\u2019s FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Messi sharing a loving embrace on the deck of the Titanic within the type of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, or just Infantino\u2019s face being superimposed at the center of the Sun of May at the middle of Argentina\u2019s flag.<\/p>\n
From contentious refereeing decisions to claims of being handed a sort draw to the ultimate, AFP breaks down the primary incidents which have given rise to the conspiracy theories:<\/p>\n
In Argentina\u2019s group stage win over Algeria, with the South Americans leading 1-0, captain Lionel Messi raked his studs down the precise calf and Achilles tendon of Algeria skipper Aissa Mandi within the thirtieth minute.<\/p>\n
Polish referee Szymon Marciniak gave Algeria a free-kick but Messi received no further sanction and would go on to attain a hat-trick.<\/p>\n
Several pundits nonetheless were adamant that Messi had been guilty of significant foul play and under the letter of the law, must have been shown a red card that might have led to a suspension.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt must have been a red card in my view,\u201d said ESPN pundit and former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha.<\/p>\n
\u201cMessi knew he did something that might have gotten him in trouble. I personally feel it’s a red card.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Bundesliga referee Patrick Ittrich agreed: \u201cFor me, that could be a red card. We have now various examples from the Bundesliga where that was punished with a red. By the letter of the law, that could be a red. If I had seen it like that on the pitch, I might have shown red.\u201d<\/p>\n
Algeria\u2019s football federation subsequently filed an official criticism to Fifa over \u201crefereeing injustice\u201d in the sport.<\/p>\n
Argentina produced one among the all-time great comebacks to maintain their World Cup campaign alive within the last 16 against Egypt, recovering from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 and reach the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
But Egypt\u2019s players and training staff were outraged by several decisions by French referee Francois Letexier that went in Argentina\u2019s favor at key moments.<\/p>\n
The largest post-game talking point surrounded a goal scored by Egypt within the second half which was disallowed after an intervention by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), who had spotted a foul on an Argentina player several phases before Egypt\u2019s Mostafa Zico put the ball in the online, at the opposite end of the pitch.<\/p>\n
Several analysts questioned whether VAR had overstepped its reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cVAR was something too deeply and in search of something that has happened in the sport to attempt to cancel the Egypt goal,\u201d former Fifa referee Mark Clattenburg said.<\/p>\n
Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan also claimed that Egypt must have been awarded a penalty within the build-up to Enzo Fernandez\u2019s late winner for Argentina.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has caused this consequence,\u201d Hassan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps they desired to keep the world champions within the competition?\u201d he told BeIn Sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps they wanted Messi to remain within the running? In football, there are sometimes external aspects that transcend the technical elements.\u201d<\/p>\n
FIFA referees\u2019 chief Pierluigi Collina rejected the Egyptian allegations as \u201cunfounded.\u201d<\/p>\n
One other pivotal VAR call helped shape the consequence of Argentina\u2019s 3-1 extra-time quarter-final win over Switzerland on in Kansas City on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Within the seventieth minute, referee Joao Pinheiro gave Argentina\u2019s Leandro Paredes a yellow card for a foul on Breel Embolo, shortly after Switzerland had equalised at 1-1 and were dominating the weary world champions.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless a VAR intervention using Fifa\u2019s recent mistaken identity rule determined that Embolo had initiated the foul in an act of simulation and the decision was overturned. Yet because Embolo had already received a yellow card, he was shown a red and sent off \u2014 leaving Switzerland right down to 10-men and halting their momentum. Argentina would on to secure victory in extra-time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were punished due to a rule that, in my view, is totally unacceptable,\u201d Swiss coach Murat Yakin said afterwards.<\/p>\n
Many commentators though indicate that Embolo was rightly punished for a transparent dive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you wish to argue Fifa is rigging the World Cup for Lionel Messi and Argentina, and a few of you’re hellbent on doing just that, you\u2019re going to should do higher than this,\u201d wrote USA Today columnist Nancy Armour.<\/p>\n
Critics of Argentina\u2019s run to the semi-finals cite the rating of their opponents as evidence of favouritism by Fifa.<\/p>\n
To this point, Argentina has not needed to face a team ranked higher than nineteenth on the earth heading into their clash with England on Wednesday. After topping a gaggle that included Algeria, Jordan and Austria, Argentina\u2019s knockout round opponents were Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland.<\/p>\n
But that is due largely to Fifa\u2019s decision to seed the highest 4 teams on the earth in such a way that might keep them apart until the semifinals.<\/p>\n
England has not faced a team ranked in the highest 10 to this point, while France did should play seventh-ranked Morocco within the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n