Argentina Coach Ends Silence On FIFA World Cup 'Fixing' Allegations, Gives Fitting Reply To Critics

From favourable refereeing decisions to being drawn on the 'right side' of the FIFA World Cup fixtures bracket, Argentina have had plenty going their way in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In fact, a win over Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the tournament would take the team to the last four without facing a single opponent ranked among the top 10 teams in the world. Both on-field and off-field factors have led many to suggest that the defending champions are being favoured by FIFA in the World Cup. In fact, after Argentina came from being 2-0 down to beat Egypt 3-2 in the Round of 16, the opposing team's camp claimed that the World Cup is 'fixed' to favour Argentina.

As La Albiceleste prepare to take on Switzerland in their quarter-final match on Saturday, manager Lionel Scaloni broke his silence on the matter, admitting that the outside noise has even reached the players. Scaloni, however, isn't thinking too much about these suggestions, calling it a 'staged rebellion' by people who don't want Argentina to win two World Cup titles in a row.

"The thing is, we might have a lot more people who don't want us to win because we won the last one, and well, we take that into account. And yeah, it gets to the players. We use criticism or comments to rebel. To stage a rebellion and make the players play even better," Scaloni told reporters on Saturday.

"It's been a long time-40 years as you just said, since 1986, right? They were saying we were favoured back then, too. So it's not something new. As far back as I can remember, Argentina has always been one of the teams that stir up the tournament, always. And in a way, as you rightfully pointed out, it's used to show the players that there are people who don't want Argentina to win. But that's normal, just like there will be people who don't want another national team to win," said Scaloni.

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has also been under the spotlight, especially after Egypt's second-half strike was chalked off for an incident that took place more than 10 seconds before the goal was scored. Scaloni, however, said that the VAR team is only following the rules that were set before the tournament started.

"I think with VAR and all these things, it's very hard for them to help you. Very hard, very hard. There's no double interpretation with VAR. Plus, they made it crystal clear to us in that course they gave us before the World Cup started. They showed us all the footage. This is how it's going to be, it's going to be like this, like that. And it's been followed to the letter," he added.

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