Petition Calling for Argentina to Be Disqualified from the 2026 World Cup Has Reached 6 Million Signatures

The 2026 World Cup has been marred by controversy. Public attention has now turned to an online petition calling for Argentina to be disqualified from the tournament, following allegations that FIFA and match officials have granted preferential treatment to the defending champions.

The petition uploaded via the argentinaout.com website went viral after collecting more than six million signatures. The petition initiators are demanding FIFA strike Argentina from the 2026 World Cup, as they judge the competition is no longer being run fairly.

Contents of the petition accuse refereeing decisions throughout the tournament of repeatedly favouring Lionel Messi and his squad.

"From our perspective it is completely clear that FIFA and the officials are biased towards Lionel Messi and Argentina. If the winner was already decided before the tournament even began, what reason is there for other nations to compete? Argentina must be removed from this World Cup so that every team receives a truly fair opportunity," the official petition text states.

Public outrage escalated further following Argentina's dramatic victory over Egypt in the Round of 16. During that match, La Albiceleste had fallen 0-2 behind, and even failed to convert a first half penalty taken by Lionel Messi.

Argentina then pulled off an extraordinary comeback, scoring three goals in the final 13 minutes of the match to overturn the deficit and secure a spot in the quarter-finals.

This comeback victory is exactly what ignited the current polemic. Egypt was left aggrieved after one of their own goals was disallowed following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review which cited a foul during the attacking build-up.

Separately, the Egyptian camp maintain that Argentina's match-winning goal should also have been reviewed by VAR, alleging it was preceded by an unpunished foul against Mohamed Salah. They argue that goal ought to have been ruled out, and that Egypt should instead have been awarded a penalty kick.

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan went even further with his allegations, publicly stating the match had been fixed to guarantee Argentina progressed in the tournament.

"I will state what I believe to be true, regardless of any consequences. As far as I am concerned this match was rigged, and anyone watching could see that. If they already intended for Argentina to win, why go through the pretence of inviting other countries to compete in this World Cup at all?" he remarked.

Hassan also directly questioned FIFA's commitment to the Fair Play principles the governing body continuously promotes.

"FIFA preaches about 'Fair Play' constantly, yet we saw zero evidence of that principle during this match. Had those critical errors not occurred, I am fully confident the final outcome would have been completely different," he stated firmly.

These allegations were immediately rejected by Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni. He noted that claims of preferential treatment for his national side are not a new issue, and have circulated repeatedly ever since Argentina won the world title back in 1986.

Scaloni asserted that VAR implementation has made deliberate bias towards any team almost impossible.

"With VAR and all the modern officiating technology in use today, it is extremely difficult to unfairly advantage one team over another. There is effectively no room left for referees to apply inconsistent or biased judgement anymore," he responded.

He explained that every potential foul can now be reviewed objectively using this technology, including incidents involving player Lisandro Martínez.

"Social media means every small controversy spreads instantly and becomes blown out of proportion. That does not mean any favouritism is taking place. If anything, current technology makes it almost impossible to assist any specific team. Perhaps things were different decades ago, I cannot speak for that, but right now this kind of manipulation is practically impossible," he concluded.