In football, Argentina are a very powerful team and opposition. With the plethora of talent that they possess; there's no need for some extra help in matches.
Despite this, it has been claimed that Argentina are getting favourable calls in the ongoing World Cup.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup wraps up the quarterfinals Saturday night in Kansas City with Argentina playing Switzerlan. Refereeing is back in the spotlight after FIFA announced João Pinheiro would be the head referee for the match.
Pinheiro refereed the Bayern Munich vs. Paris Saint-Germain Champions League semi-final. A free kick that should've led to a second yellow card for handball by PSG defender, Nuno Mendes. It was overturned after just 29 minutes when Bayern badly needed a way back into the game.
"That would have been a decisive moment if PSG had lost a player so early," said Bayern’s Konrad Laimer; who, instead, was eventually judged — on the fourth official’s advice — to have handled the ball seconds earlier.
An added frustration is the passage of play around the Nuno Mendes handball couldn't be reviewed by the VAR system — though a similar incident could be next season when the rules are updated.
Mendes, whose outstretched right arm made his body bigger and blocked the ball, was already booked for tripping Michael Olise; another seemed inevitable.
Pinheiro signaled for a free kick to Bayern but a Bayern player was judged to have handled the ball several yards further back when he first controlled the bouncing ball. Television replays were inconclusive.
"You don’t feel it during the game itself. I thought I had played the ball with my stomach, and then Mendes with his hand," Laimer said. "The referee whistled for handball against me five seconds later. That’s really strange."
The VAR protocol allowed video review of "clear and obvious errors" in four game-changing situations: A goal, a penalty, direct red cards, and mistaken identity when the wrong player is shown a red or yellow card.
Starting with the 2026 World Cup, VAR can intervene to overturn a red card if a second yellow was shown in error.
Nuno Mendes was never shown a second yellow. However, a similar situation next season will let the referee follow their first instinct and review the whole passage of play at a pitch-side monitor.
"I thought he was giving it," Bayern coach, Vincent Kompany, said of Pinheiro moving toward a second yellow for Nuno Mendes. "I felt he pulled out because he realized he had already given him a yellow and he didn’t want to send him off for that, and he’s turned it around to the other side."
"I’ve seen it from a few angles. I don’t see Konrad Laimer touch the ball with his hand."
Instead of playing one hour against PSG down one man, Bayern faced a full-strength opponent and did not score until Harry Kane’s goal at the very end of a 1-1 game that cut the overall score to 6-5.
Minutes after the Laimer decision, Bayern was correctly denied a penalty for handball by PSG’s João Neves because the ball was played to his arm by a team-mate. That nuance is not specified in The Laws of the Game, but it is in a supplementary document called Football Rules.
There have been multiple officiating controversies to come out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
FIFA's refereeing chief rejected claims of bias in Argentina’s win after Egypt's coach, Hossam Hassan, alleged after the match that there may have been pressure on the referee to keep Argentina in the tournament.
Egypt is asking FIFA to investigate the officiating after its 3-2 loss to Argentina at the 2026 World Cup. The Egyptian Soccer Federation says key calls affected the match; while Argentina’s comeback kept its tournament hopes alive. Some fans online have claimed Argentina received favourable treatment. No evidence of corruption has been proven.
A recent decision from FIFA has shed some clarity on who won't be going to oversee their games should they advance to the semis and beyond.
Reports say FIFA has ruled that Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor won't officiate Argentina's matches at this year's World Cup. The experienced Premier League referees hail from England and are already working at the tournament; but they can't work on the Argentine games due to geopolitical neutrality policies, according to the Independent.
Argentina and England were locked in the undeclared Falklands War 44 years ago for control over the Falkland Islands. The battle lasted for nearly 2 and-a-half months and still continues to cast a shadow on the geopolitical relations between the two countries in the present.
FIFA takes multiple factors into account before assigning a referee for any match at the World Cup. A referee can't officiate their home country's game and also can't work on a game that can have potential implications for their country.
Oliver and Taylor were similarly barred from refereeing any of England's games or even any game in their Group L; which could have a bearing on England's final position.
Argentina prepares to face Switzerland in the quarter-final; and the Portuguese official, Referee João Pinheiro, will oversee the game, as the winner could meet England in the semifinals. Should England win their last-eight clash agaisnt their Norway, it could open the path for an England vs Argentina semifinal, meaning neither referee could work on that game.
The nationality of the referees during certain games has been a talking point at this World Cup. When France's Francois Letexier worked on Argentina's game, many believed it would influence Argentina negatively but those fears were quashed when the game allegedly featured multiple questionable calls in Argentina's favour.
Similarly, when an all-Argentine refereeing team oversaw the France-Morocco quarter-final clash, fans found conspiracy theories that the calls could hurt the teams. As it turned out, France comfortably coasted into the final four after beating Morocco 2-0.
Argentina's clash against Switzerland will be officiated by the Portuguese team led by João Pinheiro. Argentine fans were quick to point out that this might not work in their favour; as the referees would have certain biases towards players.
With the way the games are going, there has been no evidence that certain calls are made with bias, except for fan outrage that was strongly dismissed by players and coaches.
FIFA refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina has defended the officiating in Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Egypt in the World Cup round of 16; dismissing allegations of bias and saying match officials operated with complete independence.
In an interview published on FIFA’s website on Thursday, Collina said criticism of referees was part of football but he condemned the questioning of the officials’ integrity after Egypt complained about the officiating following the defeat.
"With such a high number of matches played in a relatively short period of time, it is normal that some things do not go as expected," Collina said. "When that happens, they [referees] are ready to work even harder to ensure they are fully prepared for the next match."
"Of course, constructive discussion about decisions will always be part of football, but unfounded allegations have no place in our sport."
Collina said that such allegations could provoke threats against referees and their families.
"Nobody can question the integrity of the FIFA World Cup mach officials.… "Equally, nobody can claim that FIFA refereeing can be influenced by anyone, not even by the FIFA president [Gianni Infantino]," he added. "Match officials make honest decisions and, just like players and coaches, they always try to do their best."
Egypt exited the tournament but claimed they had been treated unfairly, after Argentina overturned a 2-0 deficit with 11 minutes remaining to snatch victory with a stoppage-time winner from Enzo Fernandez.
Egypt argued that Mostafa Zico’s second-half strike was incorrectly ruled out for what it described as a non-existent foul in the build-up. Egypt were also incensed that a challenge on Mohamed Salah wasn't penalised moments before Argentina launched the move that produced the winning goal.
FIFA’s Collina said VAR had correctly recommended overturning Zico’s goal, after identifying a foul by Marwan Attia on Argentina defender, Lisandro Martinez, during the attacking possession phase.
"We believe that a foul is a foul,” Collina said. “Regardless of whether the foul appears ‘obvious’, if the referee did not see it on the field of play, the VAR can intervene."
Collina also defended the decision not to award Egypt a penalty before Argentina’s winner, saying both the referee and VAR judged the contact between Salah and Julian Alvarez to be "normal football contact."
"Stepping on an opponent’s foot is a foul, whereas a defender who touches the ball first and then makes normal football contact has not committed a foul," he said.
While acknowledging that some decisions would always involve an element of subjectivity, Collina said FIFA was satisfied with how VAR principles had been applied throughout the tournament.
Argentina's football association has indicated it may have been the target of a cyber attack after e-mails from its official accounts reportedly criticised refereeing in the national team's 3-2 win against Egypt at the World Cup.
The reigning world champions looked set for a shock last-16 exit when they trailed Egypt 2-0 but produced a remarkable late comeback to reach the quarter-finals.
Following the defeat, the Egyptian Football Association asked FIFA to banish from the tournament the French referee Francois Letexier and the team of officials who were in charge, alleging bias in favour of Argentina.
Argentine news outlet, La Calle, external reported emails sent from the Argentine Football Association's (AFA) account to journalists after the match stated "Argentina did not win" and the result was a result of "corrupt refereeing decisions".
The publication said that AFA sources indicated a group of Egyptian-origin hackers were behind the emails, which also praised Egypt's performance.
Responding to the incident, an AFA statement read: "We want to inform you that we have detected the possible sending of emails from one of our institutional accounts that were not generated or authorised by our team."
It asked the public to "dismiss any message that you have recently received from our account and that is unusual, especially if it contains links, attachments or requests personal information".
"There is a possibility that our account has been subject to unauthorised access, so we are working to clarify what happened and adopt the necessary security measures," the AFA added.
Cristian Romero halved the deficit 11 minutes from time before Lionel Messi equalised five minutes later.
Enzo Fernandez completed the comeback two minutes into injury time as Argentina set up a last-eight tie against Switzerland on Sunday.
Speaking after the defeat, Egypt boss Hossam Hassan said his side had been "treated unfairly" and "suffered injustice".peaking after the defeat, Egypt boss Hossam Hassan said his side had been "treated unfairly" and "suffered injustice".
Hassan added: "Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running. "The world champion received support at every level. There seem to be pressures from the Argentina side on this outcome."
suspected cyberattack on the Argentine Football Association (AFA) is under investigation after hackers reportedly breached the federation's media database and used a compromised account to circulate messages accusing Argentina of benefiting from corrupt refereeing in its dramatic World Cup victory over Egypt.
Argentine newspaper Diario Popular reported late Friday that emails were sent from an AFA account to journalists claiming Argentina's place in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals had been secured through biased officiating rather than sporting merit.
The incident comes just days after Argentina's dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over Egypt in the Round of 16 sparked fierce controversy over several key refereeing decisions.
According to the report, one of the messages declared: "Argentina did not win. The victory was stolen through corrupt refereeing decisions."
The attackers are also believed to have gained unauthorised access to the AFA Medios database; which manages media accreditation and communications.
The breach reportedly exposed e-mail addresses, IP addresses and passwords belonging to journalists and football officials.
Reports said an Egyptian hacker group later claimed responsibility on online forums and allegedly offered portions of the stolen database for sale.
The AFA has acknowledged the possibility of unauthorised access and said it is investigating the incident while strengthening its cybersecurity measures.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the identity of those responsible and the full extent of the breach remains under investigation. The alleged cyberattack follows one of the most dramatic matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The problem with being a referee is that almost all calls are subjective. Suspicions can grow if the trend of bad calls are made. An uneasy feeling can be created if a referee with a sketchy past is designated for a match.
I don't trust anything when it comes to Gianni Infantino. It's very possible that he's played a part of it.
I believe the cyber attack was a means of retaliation against the loss. Whether you like it or not, one shouldn't resort to criminal acts for revenge.