More than 10 million people have signed an online petition on argentinaout.org calling for Argentina’s withdrawal from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, accusing FIFA and match officials of favoring Lionel Messi and the players he defended. The petition, which was carried out on argentinaout.com, was hit hard after Argentina’s stunning victory over Egypt in the Round of 16.The petition says that Argentina has received good decisions in all sports. “Argentina Out is a fan-led campaign calling for Argentina’s exclusion from the 2026 World Cup,” it said. “Sign the Kick Out Argentina petition calling for consistent rules, transparent governance, and fair competition in every country. Add your voice and help the call to make Argentina impossible to ignore. “The conflict escalated when Argentina went from 2-0 down to defeat Egyptscoring three goals in the last 13 minutes despite Messi missing the first penalty. Egypt were left fuming after one of their goals was disallowed following a VAR review, with Argentina’s late winner standing despite an alleged foul on Mohamed Salah in the build-up.Egypt manager Hossam Hassan did not back down after the match, saying: “I will say what I think, regardless of the result. This has been going wrong, and everyone has seen it. If they want to win so badly, why are they inviting everyone to take part in the World Cup?” He added: “Fifa promotes ‘Fair Play’, but we didn’t see it on the pitch… without those mistakes, the result would have been different.”
Principal Scaloni denies allegations of bias
Ahead of Argentina’s quarter-final, manager Lionel Scaloni rejected the claims, insisting that modern technology makes referee bias impossible. “In 1986, he said that Argentina was getting an unfair advantage. This is not new for us,” he said.Scaloni added, “There are people who don’t like to see Argentina win. These comments only encourage my team to play good football.”Explaining his point, he said, “With VAR and all the technology we have today, it’s very difficult to help anyone. There is no room for a different interpretation… today, it’s very difficult.” Argentina are now preparing to face England in the World Cup.
