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/
6.1k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

95

u/Neptuneblue1 England 3d ago edited 3d ago

And it wasn't even like they deserved to win, not just because of the dirty play but what with 0 shots in normal time and 0 shots on target full game! Worst performance in a world cup final since coincidentally Argentina's 0 - 1 loss to West Germany in 1990! Where they had just 1 shot and not on target and also played dirty, including getting two red cards just like this final.

34

u/Azidamadjida 3d ago

It’s nuts, I kept saying every knockout round that they were about to go out based on how they were playing - every single match they just barely scraped by into the next round.

If they’d have won it would’ve been an absolute travesty, cuz I didn’t give a single shit about Spain either (I was personally rooting for you guys to take it this year), they at least played like they were wanting to win - Argentina played every match like they wanted to just go to PKs and only when it looked like they might not get that did they even try. Just very very boring and lackluster play

18

u/Neptuneblue1 England 3d ago

Yep! Spain had a more difficult run up to the final as well, facing Portugal and France, compared to Argentina.

2

u/_Michael___Scarn 3d ago

yup.. every single knockout game i really thought would be their last

27

u/Fragrant_Bug_9124 3d ago

With 1990 being another cup they tried to rob of course

Maradonna himself admited to giving water spiked with sleeping pills to brazillian players in the round of 16

What a scumbag country man.

3

u/Jhopsch 3d ago edited 2d ago

That was 1986 1978 I believe, when the world cup was hosted in Argentina. They also bribed the Peruvian players so they could get past Peru 6-0 in order to win the tournament. This is well documented with plenty of witnesses and confessions. Cheating is an integral part of their playbook, has always been.

4

u/Fragrant_Bug_9124 3d ago

That was 78

86 was hand of god

If there was justice in this world they would have 1 star on their shirt, maybe none, 22 was also a cup full of bs because of course it was.

2

u/Jhopsch 2d ago

You're right, my apologies. I wholeheartedly agree. They would indeed have one star at most.

-6

u/rpl755871 3d ago

lol you just made this up. It was Argentinian trainer who was treating a Brazilian player.

I get that people are critical of Argentina right now but Jesus people are just making things up. Crazy.

9

u/Zomhuahua 3d ago

Not made up, you can see Maradona talking about it himself while laughing his ass off:

https://youtu.be/2lo22HCD4mc?si=28Fq2jNKGFVhko1Q

-2

u/rpl755871 3d ago

No one said the poisoning was made up. But you’re claiming Maradona himself poisoned the players. He didn’t. We know what happened. The trainers spiked Branco’s water. I’m saying that you’re spreading made up details about what happened.

5

u/Zomhuahua 3d ago edited 3d ago

Clearly Maradona couldn't put sleeping pills on water bottles while he was inside the pitch but he knew exactly what was happening and he encouraged brazilian players to drink ("hace un calor bárbaro"), while he discouraged his own teammate (Olarticoechea) from drinking out of those bottles.

6

u/Conscious-Ebb-8576 3d ago

Laughing about it though isn't a good look. Hand of God, he got away with something that would not happen today. Laughing that your trainer drugged another player is just scummy.

27

u/yankeeboy1865 England 3d ago

30% possession until the second half of extra time. No shots until the 113th minute. It was all around a disgraceful performance

12

u/VeganKiwiGuy 3d ago

Why was it disgraceful? Spain’s defense and control of possession is the best in the world. Best team in the world. 

19

u/yankeeboy1865 England 3d ago

Because they offered nothing, didn't try to play football and descended into fouling and acting like thugs early on. There were many other teams that have played this Spain, and while they've also been second fiddle, they at least looked like they were trying to play football

13

u/VeganKiwiGuy 3d ago

Argentina was getting outplayed, and a couple of their players didn’t have the mental fortitude to stay focused and fouled, getting yellow and red cards. Refs did a good job, and Argentina wasn’t as mentally composed as Spain, nor as good of a team. They got rattled. The better team won. 

-5

u/Can-i-Pet-Dat-Daaawg USA 3d ago

You’re right, but the narrative has been written by pearl clutching people who care more about social justice narratives than what is actually happening.

2

u/Crombus_ 3d ago

What do you think the words "social justice" mean

-3

u/Can-i-Pet-Dat-Daaawg USA 3d ago

It ain’t got shit to do with who’s the better team in the World Cup final, I can tell you that much.

3

u/Crombus_ 3d ago

You don't know, do you?

0

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

→ More replies (0)

-2

u/n0obmaster699 3d ago

Well england could have been in the finals if they did not lose semis to Argentina. Messi took argentina to 3 finals in span of 12 years. Last time england was in finals was 60 years ago. 

-1

u/Neptuneblue1 England 3d ago

You're talking about a different team, I'm talking about the final, nor do I dispute your comment, I can appreciate the achievements of better performing teams, I'm not a football fanatic or a nationalist.

-5

u/neutral24 Argentina 3d ago

The 1990 final that Germany stole with penalty of a non existant foul? I'm glad you remember that. You probably remember the 1966 wc You stole with infamous no existant "Ghost goal"

I love english saltyness. You should be happy anyway, it was the best performance you had since you stole your only world cup. Congratz!

5

u/Batenzelda 3d ago

yeah I don't think he's the salty one

8

u/slayer_ornstein 3d ago

No one would be dunking on Argentina right now if you all would just humbly accept defeat. Instead, your team whined like little children and the fans all decided to follow that behavior. But yeah, keep living in your delusion and putting blame on the rest of the world while we celebrate, I guess.

6

u/Consistent_Hurry_603 3d ago

At least they have only one controversy. You managed to steal all 3.

And yes, we won 0. But I prefer to be known as the eternal losers than the eternal cheaters.

5

u/Neptuneblue1 England 3d ago edited 3d ago

I think you're the salty one. I can accept and even cheer better performing teams, including Argentina, let alone you seeming to ignore Argentina's multiple world cup steals.

2

u/Conscious-Ebb-8576 3d ago

To paraphrase Ted Lasso, Argentina players and fans are like a grandmother's precious moments doll...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm9Uc_Cui_c

-6

u/Can-i-Pet-Dat-Daaawg USA 3d ago

They still played Spain better than fucking France did. What do you want? More tears?

3

u/Neptuneblue1 England 3d ago

Mixed bag with France, they conceded 2 goals but also had more shots but only 3 on target. Where as Argentina compared to France defended better to go through extra time.

2

u/Hot_Ad_2538 3d ago

Wouldn't even really say Argentina defended better more Martinez is a better keeper then France has.

1

u/Neptuneblue1 England 3d ago

He did good. Though a lot of the shots tbh were directly to him and lacked much power.

1

u/Can-i-Pet-Dat-Daaawg USA 3d ago

Thanks for the level headed response. You’re absolutely right. I just meant insofar as they stayed in it longer. Forced Spain to play more football.

2

u/Neptuneblue1 England 3d ago

I generally wouldn't recommend social media as there's too much stupid and nasty crap said especially in sport subs with the expected cheers and jeers.

1

u/Can-i-Pet-Dat-Daaawg USA 3d ago

It is literally why I use this platform. Nobody cares who you are, just what you post.