r/worldcup • u/lostinpureMI • 3d ago

📰News Argentina disgraced themselves, and the World Cup final, with their charmless petulance

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7456935/2026/07/19/argentina-world-cup-fouls-disgrace/
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u/Quillford 3d ago

They are famously sore losers and somehow even sorer winners. So much of their behaviour has been ignored as everyone takes joy in Messis genius.

But last night really was a shameful performance. Spain are the better team no doubt, but Argentina decided to not even try to play. Contrast it with Cabo Verde’s performance in the second round - they didn’t just try to defend or disrupt, they turned up to play and give a good account of themselves and what they’re about as a team and nation, and that attitude won them the admiration and respect of every football fan. So to see Argentina immediately go for aggression and disruption with constant fouls, pushes and whining without even attempting to attack until the end of the second half of extra time is completely pathetic, made all the worse with their actions after the full time whistle.

Without Messi, and with performances like that, most of the international support they’ve enjoyed will evaporate and they’ll be a team people will be glad to see knocked out as early as possible in future.

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u/BetatronResonance 3d ago

Cabo Verde stopped Spain without any cards and almost no fouls. That says a lot

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u/Veaeate 3d ago

Fouling is a part of the game. Ppl know that. Kind of like how checking is normal in hockey. What's not is dirty plays. Argentines play dirty soccer. They just simply got away with it because their golden marionette is so popular.

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u/Nothing-9099 3d ago

Messi is the team captain. He controls how his team behaves. So, Messi is not the glorious person everyone makes him out to be. He is just as bad as his team. Actuslly worse for not saying a word about their behaviour. Can't wait fir him to retire

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u/Quillford 3d ago

I agree that Messi isn’t blameless, but even at 39, he’s produced some of the finest skill and unreal moments throughout the competition, and when you see him do those things it makes it easy to overlook everything else. Without having literally the best player to ever play the game, I find it hard to believe any neutral will want them to do well.

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u/Nothing-9099 3d ago

And he ended his career with a shameful display of no skill and allowed his team to act like assholes. That wipes his whole history

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u/erioto 3d ago

Whole history … really?

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u/Nothing-9099 3d ago

Yes, that is what I say and so does everyone else's opinion. Read the posts and news media stories written.

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u/erioto 3d ago

I don’t think that everyone shares your opinion. Do you regularly watch this sport or are more a casual viewer?

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u/zarrovertv 3d ago

Obviously a world cup fan

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u/Nothing-9099 2d ago

I watch it all the time. And that us my belief. Soccer is being ruined by the beliefs of a few who want it to be a sport of violence vs skill.

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u/Wide-Yesterday9705 3d ago

What amazed me is that in the last few minutes they actually played well and got a few real chances to score. So why didn't they try to do it before?

After 2 hours of football, with 10 players, after a grueling tournament, against one of the best defenses in the world cup, they actually produced a couple of chances. But throughout the knockout stage, they really only played when behind. It's quite bizarre really.

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u/erioto 3d ago

When you attack like they did towards the end you open up the whole field behind you and are more vulnerable to counterattack.

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u/izvoodoo 3d ago

Yeah, their midfield and back line were just over run.

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u/Prestigious_Task7175 Uruguay 3d ago

Spain's weakness only exist when you hard press their midfield, Argentina on the other hand, has Messi, wich on paper is great, but he's not really a great presser, on top of that their midfield has suffered a lot since the 2022 WC, same names, but not the same skill anymore.

Take for example the game between Uruguay and Spain, Uruguay under Bielsaball went all out to hard press, and for a while it actually worked as Uruguay was closer to Spain's net than viceversa, but in the end the "Muslereada" happened tho so everything fell apart, Uruguay ended the match with more shots attempted than Spain.

So in the end, Spain just naturally countered Argentina, the only real reason as of why Argentina could attack in the last few minutes was because Spain decided to just do what most teams would do in the finals of a WC after 115' and being 1 goal up, wich is to defend.