FIFA urged to kick Argentina out of World Cup as 13 million fans sign petition

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FT Desk

Over 13 million football fans have demanded that Argentina be removed from the 2026 World Cup in an online petition.

The petition, named 'Kick Argentina Out', has, at the time of writing, 13,674,202 signatures.

"Argentina Out is a fan-led campaign calling for Argentina to be removed from the 2026 World Cup," the site says.

"Sign the Kick Out Argentina petition to demand consistent rules, transparent officiating, and fair competition for every nation. Add your voice and help make the call to kick out Argentina impossible to ignore."

There are some supporters who believe Argentine and Lionel Messi have been given preferential treatment at the 2026 World Cup in North America this summer, with the South American side most recently progressing to the final after defeating England in the semi-final in Atlanta on Wednesday.

The controversy started in the very first match when Argentina faced Algeria and Messi was fortunate to escape punishment after he dragged his studs down the calf of the opposition captain, Aissa Mandi.

The Algerian Football Federation subsequently filed a complaint with FIFA about the refereeing by Polish official, Szymon Marciniak, considered one of the top referees in UEFA.

The decision that went in Argentina's favour that left most people upset was one they benefitted from in their blockbuster clash against Egypt.

In the Round of 16 fixture, Egypt remarkably took a two-goal lead on the Argentines, who fought back in the last 10 minutes to win 3-2 thanks to goals from Cristian Romero, Messi and Enzo Fernandez.

The disputed decision in question came when Egypt were two goals up. With the ball in the Egyptian half, Lisandro Martinez went down rather easily and the referee waved play on, which allowed the African side to score one of the best counter-attacking goals of the tournament, with Mostafa Ziko finishing the move.

However, VAR intervened and determined that Martinez was fouled in the build up, a long time before the ball hit the back of the net.

Replays showed that the Man Utd defender was being held, but it was viewed as soft in the eyes of many.

10 Reasons Why

Kick Argentina Out has listed 10 reasons why Argentina should be kicked out of the competition, including the two incidents above.

They are:

- Lionel Messi's tackle against Aissa Mandi that went unpunished in Argentina vs Algeria.

- The disallowed goal for Egypt

- A supposed lack of respect of officials after footage emerged of Messi allegedly demanding respect of his own from a referee.

- The selection of Argentine referees for France's quarter-final game against Morocco, with Les Bleus viewed as a major tournament rival to Argentina.

- Supposed favouritism in the game against Switzerland.

- In particular, the decision to send Breel Embolo off via a second yellow card even though it was clear he deliberately dived.

- Discriminatory chants allegedly made by Enzo Fernandez four years ago.

- Alleged racist abuse towards YouTuber iShowSpeed.

- A handball from Messi in a World Cup game against the Netherlands four years ago.

- Alleged racist abuse towards Vinicius Junior in a Clasico Sudamericano match.

It should be noted that the same 'Kick Argentina Out' website asking who is the GOAT between Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi.

So far, Ronaldo has 64% of the votes.