Scaloni fires back over FIFA favouritism claims: Some don't want Argentina to win

FIFA World Cup 2026: Lionel Scaloni rejected claims FIFA is favouring Argentina after the controversial comeback win over Egypt. He said resentment towards the champions is motivating his squad before the quarter-final against Switzerland.

In Short

• Argentina recovered from two goals down to beat Egypt 3-2
• Social media erupts with allegations of FIFA favouring Argentina and Messi
• Egypt formally complained after a disallowed goal and rejected penalty appeal

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni has mounted a fierce defence of his team following mounting allegations that FIFA is actively manipulating tournament conditions to favour the defending world champions. Speaking ahead of Saturday's highly anticipated quarter-final clash against Switzerland, Scaloni claimed that external critics are simply desperate to see his squad fail.

Addressing the media spotlight on Saturday, Scaloni was unbothered by the fixing allegations, pointing out that history is merely repeating itself.

"It's been a long time, 40 years as you just said, since 1986, right?" Scaloni stated. "They were saying we were favoured back then too. So it's not something new. As far back as I can remember, Argentina has always been one of the teams that stirs up the tournament, always.

"And in a way, as you rightfully 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 like there will be people who don't want another national team to win. The thing is, we might 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 yeah, it gets to the players."

The controversy erupted following Argentina's dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over Egypt in the Round of 16. After trailing 2-0, Argentina flipped the script in a frantic second-half spell through goals from Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi, and a stoppage-time winner from Enzo Fernandez. However, the match was heavily overshadowed by refereeing decisions. French referee Francois Letexier disallowed a crucial Egypt goal after a lengthy VAR review for a shirt-pull in the build-up and later waved away an Egyptian penalty appeal when Mohamed Salah went down in the box.

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) reacted with fury, lodging a formal complaint to FIFA demanding the permanent expulsion of the match referee for blatant bias. Egypt's head coach, Hossam Hassan, openly blasted the tournament's integrity post-match, 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 bad, why call everyone to come and participate?"

MORE FUEL TO ARGENTINA FIRE

Global media outlets and pundits have heavily amplified the narrative, with social media flooding with claims that FIFA President Gianni Infantino and corporate sponsors are protecting Lionel Messi's international legacy for marketing purposes.

Rather than allowing the noise to disrupt their World Cup campaign, Scaloni revealed that the squad is converting the external backlash into motivation.

"We use the criticism or the comments that are made to rebel," the manager explained. "To stage a rebellion and make the players play even better."

Defending the integrity of the technology that has saved his side, Scaloni dismissed the idea that modern officiating allows room for match-rigging.

"I think with VAR and all these things, it's very hard for them to help you," Scaloni added. "Very hard, very hard. There's no double interpretation with VAR. Plus, they made it crystal clear to us in that course they give us before the World Cup starts. They showed us all the footage. This is how it's going to be, it's going to be like this, like that. And it's been followed to the letter."

Argentina will look to channel this collective rebellion when they take the pitch against Switzerland, aiming to silence their detractors where it matters most.

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