FIFA needs to punish Argentina for three disgraceful incidents in the World Cup final

Argentina trained on how not to play and how not to act in their loss to Spain in the World Cup final in New Jersey

If this was to be the last time we would see Lionel Messi at the World Cup, it was a disappointing way to decline.

Argentina’s tournament ended in disgrace, and their captain, despite his genius, was unable to completely distance himself from what could only be described as a national embarrassment.

After all, it was the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner who, in an act of sheer desperation, tried to orchestrate the sacking of Marc Cucurella.

The left-back, who had just signed for Real Madrid, admittedly covered his mouth momentarily, but the 39-year-old veteran and Enzo Fernandes’s failed attempt to blackmail Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic by tipping him off was shameful and oozed with desperation.

The great irony was that not only was Fernandes later sent off after receiving two yellow cards, but Nicolas Otamendi also had the audacity to accuse Rodri and Aymeric Laporte of deliberately trying to influence the referees.

But the worst, Leandro Paredes’ full-time assault, was yet to come. Losing your cool is one thing, but Paredes completely lost his self-respect as he pushed, wrestled and attacked Eric Garcia and Gabi.

A special mention should also be given to right-back Nahuel Molina, who not only played a key role in Ferran Torres’ winning goal, but also provided a punch to Rodri.

FIFA has yet to punish Argentina’s controversial and aggressive Islas Malvinas flag after the match against England, but it is about time to punish Lionel Scaloni’s side, who also lost great respect the day they relinquished their World Cup title.

The actions of Paredes and Molina in particular were disgusting and shocking, and not at all surprising after watching his actions against England at Atalanta.

His only main purpose on the pitch is to surprise opponents and feed into their attacks. No wonder he won 84 caps.

Even Scaloni’s assistant coach Raton Ayala thought it was acceptable to punch Spaniard Dani Olmo in the face, but this is another incident that requires police enforcement.

Rather strangely, Valentin Barco was nowhere to be seen. He screamed with joy in Jude Bellingham’s face and burst onto the field from the bench, but when Spain was crowned champions, he was nowhere to be seen.

Fernandes’ midweek Instagram post mocking England, ‘Wonderwall’, backfired spectacularly and left him with a shock face.

Argentina then turned its back on Spain as La Roja took to the podium with the iconic gold trophy. It was an astonishing lack of basic respect.

All of this is said without considering how badly Argentina actually played. They didn’t have a single shot until the 116th minute.

Spain centre-back Laporte actually mentioned that both he and his team-mates felt Argentina had gone too far in midweek.

The newly crowned world champions don’t do things by halves, so there was no reason to revel in the glory of Tuesday’s semi-final victory over France.

Scaloni claimed that his players were “great examples for the people and the country,” but in the end, if they were an honest reflection of the people, it is hard to imagine Argentina being popular worldwide.

It’s a miracle that the final was so one-sided, given that South America were also the only team to never receive VAR intervention, suffered the most penalties, had the most chalked-off opposition goals, received the most yellow cards and traveled the least distance of the 48 participating nations.

Similarly, had Argentina won, it would have been the biggest injustice since Folarin Balogun’s red card was overturned.

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