It’s been a week since the World Cup ended, but misleading claims and conspiracies surrounding the tournament have continued in full force.
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The vast majority concern Spain’s victory over Argentina in the final, in which La Roja won 1-0, and the controversies that have cast a shadow over the South American side during and after the competition.
One post that has racked up almost 4 million views alleges that global football governing body FIFA “needed a European champion”.
It says that FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a deal with UEFA, Europe’s football governing body, to ensure Spain won the World Cup in return for its support for his re-election in 2027.
Infantino announced in April that he would stand to be president again. If re-elected, it would be his fourth term.
The video attached to the post contains no evidence to back up the allegations, and a community note at the bottom highlights that Argentina lost the final because it had zero shots on target during the match.
Additionally, more than 200 FIFA associations have already endorsed Infantino for re-election, with only a small number of European associations so far withholding their backing, among which Germany is the highest-profile.
UEFA has locked horns with FIFA on a number of recent issues, such as the global footballing body’s controversial decision to reverse US striker Folarin Balogun’s one-game ban during the World Cup, but it’s unclear whether it would move to back a candidate against Infantino.
Regardless, there is no evidence that it engaged in any sort of bribery to fix the result of the World Cup final.
Controversy over the Falklands
Another claim circulating online alleges that FIFA forced Argentina to either lose the final or face a 10-year ban from the World Cup, after players unfurled a banner with the message “The Falkland Islands are Argentine” following their victory over England in the semi-finals.
The Falklands are a British overseas territory in the southwest Atlantic Ocean which has long been at the centre of a sovereignty dispute between the UK and Argentina. Buenos Aires invaded and occupied the archipelago in 1982, but it was recaptured by British forces after a 74-day war.
However, there’s no evidence that FIFA threatened Argentina for asserting its claim over the Falklands in the banner after the match against England. Reports state that FIFA is looking into the matter, but no official sanction has so far been announced.
Article 34.3 of the World Cup’s rules bans the display of political messages before, during and after any matches.
There is precedent for players being punished for flouting this kind of rule: UEFA banned Spanish players Álvaro Morata and Rodri for one match after they chanted “Gibraltar is Spanish”, in reference to the British overseas territory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, during victory celebrations after the Euro 2024 final against England.
However, as things stand, no such sanction has been applied to Argentina or any of its players for their own political comments.
Claims of threats
Another conspiracy alleges that Argentina’s players and their families were threatened before the World Cup final, using a clip showing captain Lionel Messi encouraging his teammates before the game as evidence.
“Let’s stay calm,” Messi says in the video. “Let’s forget about everything, let’s just think about playing.”
Social media users allege that this shows he was trying to calm his teammates down after they were threatened and told to fix the match.
However, when looking at the full video, we can see that Messi also said things such as “Come on Nico, you’re going to nail the whole game” and “Today is my day, today will be one for the history books”, suggesting his intention to go and give it his all.
Argentina’s manager Lionel Scaloni dismissed the conspiracies, while the president of the Argentina Football Federation, Claudio Tapia, called for people not to fall for the “lies” and said that Spain deserved to win the final.
The father of Alexis Mac Allister, a midfielder for Argentina’s national team, also said in a radio interview that he was not threatened.
