Were Argentina given preferential treatment at the 2026 World Cup? A explosive admission from the game’s law-makers

At the centre of it all is the case of Breel Embolo. The former Bundesliga striker was sent off in the quarter-final of Switzerland’s match against Argentina in the 72nd minute with the score at 1-1 after receiving a second yellow card. However, with the correct application of the rule adjustments introduced for the World Cup by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), that should never have happened. The official guardians of the laws have now admitted as much in a letter seen by The Athletic.

Early in the move, Embolo challenged Argentina’s Leandro Paredes near the centre circle and clearly took a dive, with Paredes not touching the Swiss player at all. Referee Joao Pinheiro still gave a foul and showed the Argentinian a yellow card.

Because the decision was obviously wrong, video assistant Guillermo Pacheco stepped in and sent Pinheiro to the VAR monitor. After reviewing the footage, he reversed his decision: no yellow for Paredes, but instead a second yellow and red for Embolo, who left the pitch in tears. The blow hit Switzerland hard. Only a few minutes earlier Dan Ndoye had equalised and they had the momentum on their side. Down to 10 men, though, the Swiss had nothing left and Argentina eventually won 3-1 after extra time.

World Cup 2026: VAR should not have intervened in the Breel Embolo case

The error lies in the wording of the law. Before the World Cup, IFAB had indeed introduced a change allowing VAR to intervene in yellow-card incidents. However, that applies only in cases of mistaken identity, in other words if Pinheiro had shown the yellow to the wrong player in this instance. VAR is still not allowed to question the on-field referee’s decision itself to show a yellow card. Under the correct interpretation of the law, Pinheiro’s decision should therefore have stood, because Paredes was the “right” player, even though there was no foul and the yellow card was of course factually wrong. VAR should not have intervened and Embolo should have been allowed to stay on the pitch.

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At the time of writing, FIFA had not issued a statement on the matter. There had, however, also been another, less explosive misinterpretation of the new rule in the group-stage match between co-hosts the USA and Paraguay (4-1). Here, referee Danny Makkelie cautioned USA defender Tim Ream with a yellow card after an alleged foul on Miguel Almiron. Here too, VAR wrongly intervened, Makkelie withdrew the booking for Ream after reviewing the footage and instead showed Almiron a yellow card for diving.

Throughout the World Cup, the issue of supposed preferential treatment for Argentina by the referees kept resurfacing. In their first group match against Algeria (3-0), an incident involving Lionel Messi caused a stir after half an hour with the score at 1-0, when he caught opposing defender Aissa Mandi on the calf with his studs showing. “For me, that’s a red card,” referee expert Patrick Ittrich stressed on MagentaTV.

World Cup 2026: even allegations of manipulation over Argentina

Following Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 win against Egypt in the last 16, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan even made allegations of manipulation because of several controversial refereeing decisions in favour of Messi and co.: “I will say what I think. No matter what consequences it has: that was obviously a manipulated match and the whole world saw it. (…) I also want to say this: if they are so desperate for Argentina to win, why do they then invite everyone else so they can take part?” Hassan said.

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Many also felt Argentina’s enormously physical approach was punished too rarely and not with enough consistency, but the South Americans still went all the way to the final. There they were clearly beaten by Spain, with La Roja crowned world champions thanks to a thoroughly deserved 1-0 win after extra time. After the final whistle, some Argentina stars were involved in serious disturbances, and Paredes faces a lengthy suspension after punching and kicking Gavi and Eric Garcia.