The World Cup final should have been a celebration. A celebration of crowning new champions and bidding goodbye to the greatest of the game, Lionel Messi. But things took an ugly turn from the celebration and tarnished everything.
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“A real shame to send the great Messi out with such a vulgar display of fouls, fights, and disrespect. It’s a way of losing twice, instead of just once on the pitch to a clearly superior side,” said Garry Kasparov, talking about the fights between Argentine and Spanish players.
The fans should have been celebrating what might be the end of one of the greatest careers in soccer history with Lionel Messi, but all the fans got was disappointment after the final whistle. Things got so bad that FIFA has now launched an investigation into players from both teams after they started to get physical on the field.
Players like Leandro Paredes, Gavi and Eric Garcia got into a physical tussle, with Paredes shoving Garcia and pushing Gavi to the ground. Argentina coach manager Lionel Scaloni tried to pull his players away from the fight and didn’t look happy with the situation at all.
These moments changed the conversation in the wrong direction. FIFA later confirmed that the disciplinary committee will be investigating the potential breaches of rules following those ugly scenes. But it didn’t end there. It got worse after images started to spread across social media that showed Argentina in a negative light.
While Spain climbed the podium to receive their medals and lift the World Cup in front of the world, Argentina players turned away from the celebration and were with their fans. It was a sharp contrast because Spain players applauded the Argentina players while they were receiving the runner-up medal.
Many supporters understood Argentina’s heartbreak, but felt that those actions overshadowed everything Messi did for them over the years. Because while all the players were busy fighting, Messi silently walked away, in what might be his last time in the World Cup.
The 39-year-old finished the tournament with 8 goals, proving why he remains football’s greatest. He has now appeared in 3 World Cup finals, a record held by only 5 players before him, and led Argentina in all of them while even winning the 2022 World Cup.
With such a performance even at the age of 39, his legacy remains immortal, but it is not the kind of farewell fans would have wanted the players on the pitch to give him.
What makes all this worse is the fact that Spain were simply the better team across the World Cup. That reality made Argentina’s post-match reactions get even more criticism. What was supposed to be a farewell game for Lionel Messi turned into a street fight between players and took the spotlight off him.
