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Argentina lost the 2026 World Cup to Spain last night, but ahead of the match a petition for the country to be kicked out of the tournament garnered thousands of signatures.
At the time of writing the petition has since closed, however it had over 23,316,108 signatures. For context the Guinness World Record the most signatories (hand signed) is 24,319,181.
In the petition description, it accuses FIFA and the referees of being "biased toward Lionel Messi and Argentina".
"Why should the rest of the world compete when the winner has already been decided? Kick Argentina out of the World Cup and give everyone else a fair chance," they concluded.
Since Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 in extra time in the final last night, the website has been updated and reads, "Over 23 million people from 170 countries signed this petition in under a week. FIFA ignored us but Spain delivered. Thank you Spain."
Argentina Out
During the World Cup, Argentina has been controversy over their Round of 16 match against Egypt where they made a 3-2 comeback to win the game.
When Egypt were 2-0 up, had a goal was controversially disallowed, meanwhile its request for video review of an Argentina goal was denied, resulting in complaints that the video review (VAR) was employed unevenly.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said, "It’s all about money, adding, “They want Messi to stay in the tournament. In football, many things happen off the pitch because of interests. What happened was unfair. Egypt deserved to qualify. We were the better team.
“We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice. It is my own way of speaking up and standing up. I am not going to watch another match in this tournament.”
In response, FIFA has hit back with chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina saying how "nobody can question the integrity."
"Of course, constructive discussion about decisions will always be part of football, but unfounded allegations have no place in our sport," Collina said.
Then there was more controversy after their semi-final win against England, Argentina players held up a banner during celebrations that read "Las Malvinas son Argentinas", which translates as "The Falklands are Argentine".
In response to the post-match political banner, the prime minister official spokesperson said: “The World Cup might not be ours but the Falkland Islands definitely are.
“Our position is unchanged, self determination rests with the islanders. Our commitment to the Falklanders will never waver.”
Following the World Cup final, Argentina players sparked a fight with the Spanish players. It all kicked off when Spanish substitutes ran onto the pitch to join in with their team’s celebrations and Argentina defender Nahuel Molina then appeared to throw a punch at Spain’s captain Rodri as he ran past him.
Midfielder Leandro Paredes also clashed with Spain’s Eric Garcia and Gavi, causing Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni along with other coaching staff to run on and attempt to stop the fight.
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