Shameful Argentina players ignored Lionel Messi’s final plea in tunnel before final
Shameful Argentina players ignored Lionel Messi’s final plea in tunnel before final
Andrew GambleTue, July 21, 2026 at 6:05 PM UTC
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Lionel Messi issued a team talk to his teammates urging them to "remain calm" -Credit:X @1974Xman
Lionel Messi's Argentina teammates appeared to ignore his pleas to remain calm as their World Cup Final defeat to Spain unraveled into chaos.
On Sunday, Spain secured a tight 1-0 win over 10-man Argentina in a largely uneventful World Cup Final at MetLife Stadium. Ferran Torres came off the bench to score the winning goal as the European champions clinched World Cup glory after Enzo Fernandez's red card.
The World Cup Final was fiery and tense, with Argentina resorting to surprisingly negative tactics. Lionel Scaloni’s team became the first finalists to complete 90 minutes without recording a shot, and went on to lose in extra time before ugly scenes following the full-time whistle.
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Leandro Paredes threw punches and Gavi to the turf in a ludicrous post-game fight, sparking clashes. Argentina lost their temper over the 120 minutes, with Fernandez’s late challenge on Pau Cubarsi - while already on a yellow - massively giving the edge to Spain.
While Messi got caught up in his own disappointing controversy, it seems Argentina did not listen to their captain and talisman. In pre-game footage from Argentine television company RLC Noticias, Messi could be seen urging - or perhaps begging - his teammates to stay calm as they walked down the tunnel.
In the footage, Messi seemingly says: “Let's go, boys, [let's keep] calm people, calm. The main thing is for us to remain calm, boys, that we remain calm.
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Lionel Messi struggled to make an impact on the World Cup Final as Argentina fell to Spain -Credit:X @1974Xman
“Let's just concentrate on playing, nothing else - calm, OK? Forget everything else. Let's just play, let's just concentrate on playing. Let's go.”
Fernandez was sent off for two bookable offenses; the first yellow card was for showing dissent towards Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic, and he was sent marching after catching Cubarsi with a challenge that sent the defender cartwheeling in the air.
Then, after full-time and confirmation of Spain’s win, several members of the Argentina team and staff were involved in altercations with opposing players who had begun celebrating.
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Nahuel Molina, Thiago Almada, Paredes, and assistant coach Roberto Ayala were all involved. Paredes pushed Spain's Eric Garcia by the throat, and when Gavi tried to intervene, he was forced to the ground by Almada, before Paredes pushed Gavi down by putting his hand in the Spaniard's face.
Ayala also looked to be holding Garcia around the throat before appearing to hit Spain midfielder, Dani Olmo.
FIFA’s disciplinary committee has appointed a disciplinary and ethics prosecutor to assess what happened, and any player or coach involved could face suspension, while the Argentine Football Association may also be fined. This was clearly not what Messi intended before kickoff.
Source: “AOL Sports”
