Egypt's coach Hossam Hassan didn't mince words after his side were eliminated: "FIFA wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running." That quote is now echoing around the tournament — and Argentina's path to the semifinals gives it more oxygen than FIFA would like.
The flashpoint was the Argentina-Egypt match. Referees voided an Egyptian goal for a foul, then apparently waved away what Egypt claimed was a foul at the other end by Argentina. The Egyptian Football Association said it "cannot remain silent," pointing to "several key incidents" that raised questions about refereeing consistency. Someone — possibly connected to Egyptian football, possibly not — hacked the Argentine Football Federation's systems and sent mass emails to journalists. "The robbery will not go unnoticed," the emails read.
The path that keeps raising eyebrows
Beyond the Egypt match, there's a structural argument here that's harder to dismiss. Argentina have reached the semifinals without facing a single team ranked in the top 13 by FIFA. Their next opponent is England, ranked fourth. Spain await in the final. In other words, the bracket has been exceptionally kind to the defending world champions — and to the sport's most marketable player.
Messi is worth $1.1 billion according to Forbes. He ranked third on their 2026 highest-paid athletes list, behind Ronaldo and Canelo Alvarez, pulling in $130 million the previous year from wages and deals with Adidas, Lay's, and Mastercard. He has eight goals in this tournament, tied with Kylian Mbappé for top scorer. FIFA has every commercial reason to want him in the final. That's not an accusation — it's just arithmetic.
FIFA's refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina denied the allegations flatly, saying "unfounded allegations have no place in our sport" and insisting "nobody can claim that FIFA refereeing can be influenced by anyone, not even by the FIFA president." Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni was equally dismissive: "There hasn't been any favoritism. Social media magnifies everything."
FIFA's credibility problem
The trouble is, FIFA's track record makes denials land softly. Gianni Infantino is already under fire for his relationship with Donald Trump — who intervened directly to have USMNT striker Folarin Balogun's red card suspension lifted before the tournament. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who oversaw the organization's own bribery scandal involving World Cup host bids, called it a "dictatorship" in February. Irish MEP Barry Andrews described FIFA as "profoundly corrupt." These aren't fringe voices.
Argentina face England in Atlanta on Wednesday at 3 p.m. EDT. It's a semifinal loaded with history — the 1986 "Hand of God," the shadow of the Falklands War, two countries that have never quite stopped playing out their rivalry on a football pitch. Argentina won that one and lifted the trophy. Whether the bracket or the referees have smoothed their road again this time, they still have to beat England first.
Messi has eight goals. The allegations are growing. And FIFA is, as ever, denying everything.
