Fans gather at Barton Hills, Thiruvananthapuram, to cheer for their teams in the FIFA World Cup match between Argentina and Egypt.
| Photo Credit: Nirmal Harindran
Argentina fans across the State are still celebrating what they hail as a heroic come-from-behind triumph staged by Lionel Messi and his team against Mo Salah’s valiant Egypt in the previous night’s heart-stopping FIFA World Cup pre-quarterfinal clash.
Parallelly, however, social media erupted with a campaign – complete with an avalanche of memes – criticising the win as FIFA’s gift to Argentina through a pliant referee. A section of football fans dubbed it part of a larger ploy to keep Messi in contention for the World Cup to sustain global eyeballs. In a sharp dig at French referee François Letexier, one meme featured an AI image of him clad in Argentina’s blue-and-white stripes, mocking his allegedly contentious decisions in the 3-2 thriller.
Author Salim Anees Salim took to Facebook with biting sarcasm, suggesting the referee be recommended for the Order of the Liberator General San Martin, Argentina’s highest honour for foreign nationals who have contributed generously to the nation. Sumith Jose, another Facebook user, however, viewed the match differently, calling it “absolute cinema” and describing Messi’s last ten minutes as “one of the greatest individual performances in sports.”
Former Indian footballer C.K. Vineeth argued that the debate was misplaced, distracting from the real controversy – FIFA overturning US striker Folarin Balogun’s red card at Donald Trump’s behest. “This is merely fans of other teams like Brazil and Portugal venting frustration at Argentina not being knocked out like theirs. It is nothing but blind hatred towards Argentina,” he said.
Nishad P.K., a diehard Brazil supporter from Hajiyarpally in Malappuram, dismissed such arguments outright. “What’s there to explain when the whole world watched it live? And if doubts remain, one only needs to hear Egypt captain Mo Salah and coach Hossam Hassan, both of whom were scathing about the refereeing,” he said.
Countering him, Salih, admin of the Malappuram Argentina Fans WhatsApp collective, asked why Argentina would trail by two goals until the 80th minute only to clinch the winner in the dying moments of extended injury time. “By that logic, Brazil’s equaliser against Morocco in similar circumstances should also be questioned,” he argued.
Published – July 08, 2026 09:07 pm IST
