Argentina secured a spot in Sunday’s final against Spain after mounting a thrilling late comeback to defeat England 2-1 in the semifinals, scoring twice in the last five minutes after being down 1-0.
This victory continued a tournament characterized by dramatic comebacks, with Argentina also recovering from a two-goal deficit to triumph over Egypt 3-2, and narrowly beating Cape Verde and Switzerland after extra time.
However, their journey has faced criticism from some rival teams and fan groups, who have raised concerns about officiating decisions and alleged that the tournament has favored the defending champions.
“We have been the best over these past four years, whether people like it or not, and regardless of what anyone says. Once again, we’ve positioned ourselves among the top two teams globally. This confirms that everything we’ve done is no mere coincidence and that nothing was given to us,” Messi stated.
Switzerland coach Murat Yakin expressed frustration following his team’s quarterfinal loss, arguing that a controversial refereeing decision was crucial.
The Swiss were reduced to 10 players after Breel Embolo received a second yellow card during a challenge involving Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes, a decision Yakin described as unfair.
“We were penalized due to a rule that I believe is completely unacceptable. It’s very disappointing to be eliminated in that manner. I don’t think we deserved that today, and in my view, my players are the true heroes,” Yakin commented.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni shrugged off the allegations, stating that such criticism is unavoidable in modern football.
“Talk of favoritism will always exist; it doesn’t bother me. With VAR in play, it’s quite difficult to receive any sort of help. It would have to be glaringly obvious. We knew there was no assistance,” Scaloni remarked.
Messi also defended Argentina’s accomplishments, highlighting the uniqueness of reaching consecutive World Cup finals.
“Achieving back-to-back World Cup finals is something very rare, and this group accomplished it. If we had lost to England, there would have been people making all kinds of accusations, but we didn’t give them that opportunity,” he added.
