Scaloni hits back at FIFA favoritism: Some don’t want Argentina to win

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni deployed a fierce defense of his team accusations are mounting that FIFA is actively manipulating tournament conditions in favor of the defending world champions. Ahead of Saturday’s highly-anticipated quarter-final match against Switzerland, Scaloni said outside critics were simply desperate to see his team fail.

Addressing the media attention on Saturday, Scaloni was unfazed by accusations of a fix and pointed out that history was only repeating itself.

“It’s been a long time, 40 years, like you just said, since 1986, right?” Scaloni stated. “Already back then, they said we were favored. So it’s nothing new. As far as I can remember, Argentina has always been one of the teams that has stirred up the tournament, always.

“And in a way, as you rightly pointed out, it’s used to show the players that there are people who don’t want Argentina to win. But that’s normal, just as there will be people who don’t want another national team to win. The thing is, we can have a lot more people who don’t want us to win because we won the last one, and well, we take that into account. And yes, the players take that into account.”

Controversy erupted subsequently Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Egypt in the round of 16. After trailing 2-0, Argentina turned the tables in a frantic second half with goals from Cristiano Romero, Lionel Messi and a stoppage time winner from Enzo Fernandez. However, the match was heavily overshadowed by the decisions of the referees. French referee Francois Letexier disallowed Egypt’s decisive goal after a lengthy VAR review for shirt-stretching in stoppage-time and later waved off Egypt’s appeal when Mohamed Salah fell into the box.

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) reacted furiously and lodged a formal complaint with FIFA demanding a permanent exclusion from the refereeing match for blatant bias. After the match, Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan openly condemned the integrity of the tournament, stating: “My players gave their blood and sweat… It’s all about money. They want Messi to stay in the tournament. If they want Argentina to win so badly, why call everyone to come and participate?”

MORE FUEL FOR THE ARGENTINE FIRE

Global media and pundits have greatly amplified the story, with social media awash with claims that FIFA president Gianni Infantino and corporate sponsors are protecting Lionel Messi’s international legacy for marketing purposes.

Rather than allow the noise to disrupt their World Cup campaign, Scaloni revealed the team is turning external opposition into motivation.

“We use criticism or comments that are revolting,” the manager explained. “To riot and make the players play even better.”

Scaloni defended the integrity of the technology that saved his side, rejecting the idea that modern officiating provided room for match-fixing.

“I think with VAR and all these things it’s very difficult for them to help you,” Scaloni added. “Very difficult, very difficult. There is no double interpretation with VAR. Moreover, they made it crystal clear in the course they give us before the start of the World Cup. They showed us all the footage. It will be like this, it will be like this, like this. And it is followed to the letter.”

Argentina will look to channel this collective uprising when they take on Switzerland, aiming to silence their opponents where it matters most.

Football World Cup | FIFA World Cup Schedule | FIFA World Cup Points Table | football news

– The end

Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

Jul 11, 2026 1:27 PM IST