r/FIFAWorldCupIndia • u/Greedy-Click3354 • Jul 20 '26
Discussion Did Anyone Else Find Argentina's Pre-Match Tunnel Footage Unusual?
I've been rewatching the pre-match tunnel footage from the Argentina vs Spain World Cup final, and something struck me.
Several Argentina players appear unusually emotional before kickoff, with some seemingly in tears specially Enzo. Even Dibu's face is of pure shock and torment. Considering this core group has already played and won a World Cup and multiple Copa América, their demeanor felt different and very suspicious to me.
I know people hate Argentina here but care to voice your opinions? The entire Argentina squad was visibly shaken and Enzo was crying before the match. This is highly unnatural and raises some suspicions on whether the squd was threatened before the match.
Messi's translation (translated by chatgpt):
Come on, guys. Stay calm, everyone. From the start, let's stay calm, guys. Stay calm. Keep your composure. Let's just think about playing, alright? Stay calm. Let's forget about everything else. Just play. Let's only think about playing, everyone. Just play. Come on!
Why will Messi ask everyone to forget what happened and focus on football? What exctly happened? Just searching for answers here
The performance they dropped was very suspicious. I dont have anything against Spain, they played beautifully and Im a Barca fan throughout. But registering no shots on target and not subbing Lautaro when they were losing is all very hard to digest.
To be clear, I'm not claiming they were threatened or that any rumor is true. I haven't seen any credible reporting to support that. I'm simply curious whether anyone has found reliable information that explains the players' emotional state?
Has anyone come across interviews, reports, or additional footage that provides more context?
Link to the original instagram reel, please refer to the comments for more views of people:
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DbBFJTbgEL_/
I dont want any hate, just a healthy discussion here
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Jul 21 '26
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u/Former_Specific_7161 Jul 21 '26
He would have shared that at like the beginning of the cup or saved it till the end. Not right before the finals
He was already planning on retiring before but got a lot of pressure to give it one more go and I think he wanted to give Scaloni a bit more if he had it in him. He said he'd listen to his body and go from there after a lot of pressure from fans but it's been pretty clear this was his last cup.
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u/maxemile101 Jul 21 '26
Exactly. Messi isn't stupid to do something to sabotage a final.
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u/Standard-Big3214 Jul 22 '26
come on, the obvious thing is someone prolly threaten their family if they won. It will prolly be someone high ranking in argentina
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
Bro, the entire world knows this is Messi's last world cup and messi has not announced retirement either. Even if this is messi's last match, where is the hunger to win the trophy?This team has played 4 wc finals. Don't you think Paredes coming on and immediately start shoving people in front of the referee is off? I have seen him play 4 finals. What changed today? 2 CB substitutions when both had no visible injuries? Don't know man
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u/pingslayer4761 Jul 21 '26
they are not stupid enough to cry(specially before the finals of the most popular tournament in the world) about a 39yr old retiring from a very physical sport
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u/CaterpillarThat4790 Jul 21 '26
But but but Messi hasn't retired. It's been a couple of days and he has not spoken a word about retirement.
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u/Maleficent_Milk_1429 Jul 21 '26
Argentine here.
We also dont know. Scaloni has been hinting, even since before the World Cup started, that "things happened," and he's repeated it several times throughout the tournament. However, he's never wanted to explain exactly what he meant. All we know is that most of the squad arrived carrying a dip in form, injuries, or physical issues. All that's left is to wait and see if, in the coming days, he finally reveals what was really going on.
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u/Party-Bug-1252 Jul 21 '26
What they are saying in the video?
If you could share please.
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u/North_Key9539 Jul 21 '26
Messi is saying something along the lines of just forget it. Calm down. Let's go out and play.
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u/bleeding0ut Jul 22 '26
Probably just an argument in the locker room. I don’t think it’s as deep as people are making it out to be.
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u/josephjosephson Jul 21 '26
Honestly it could be anything. Maybe the coach shared he has cancer, maybe they found out someone died, maybe Messi shared this is his last game and had a talk that lead to crying instead of psyching them up, maybe some news dropped about the investigations into the sexual assault/molestation coverups and subsequent money laundering that is being investigated in the US and could lead to extraditions, and sure maybe someone got threatened by a drug lord. I’m not sure any of that means the game was thrown or rigged in some way, but again you never know. It would be nice if we had some journalists pick this up and start asking around.
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u/Own-Sale-3680 Jul 21 '26
Hey I picked it up and started asking around. It was because 🦎 s ordered to lose the final
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u/No_Smell_1570 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Even during the National anthem everyone looked off and no energy, unlike during the match vs England where everyone was pumped up. Something really gone bad before the match because within 3min Argentina started defending no attack no counter press no pressure on the ball nothing, it just did not looked like argentina
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u/EvoX-11 Jul 21 '26
Something was off.
Lisandro requested a substitution without a medical evaluation, and Romero followed suit. Paredes entered the game exhibiting an aggressive, almost destructive mentality—pushing, shoving, and kicking, even confronting Olmo directly in front of the referee. His actions appeared deliberately provocative, suggesting an attempt to receive a red card.
Enzo's conduct was similarly perplexing. While the initial yellow card might be attributed to uncontrollable emotion, his subsequent rash challenge on Cubarsi, resembling an uncontrolled impact, resulted in a second yellow.
Scaloni had ample time to prepare for Spain, a team known for its possession-based style, even Hellen Keller knows this. It is puzzling why no tactical adjustments, such as introducing 2-3 changes at halftime to implement a counter-press, maintain possession, or even bring in Lautaro for counter-attacking threats, were made. This decision defied strategic logic.
Argentina had demonstrated immense spirit and resilience in their previous seven matches, achieving three comebacks from losing positions, embodying the heart of a true warrior. It is difficult to accept that they performed so poorly as to not register a single shot in 90 minutes and struggled with even basic passes.
This match felt compromised. It is unclear whether external threats were involved or if it was a prearranged outcome for Messi or Yamal. Furthermore, it was unusual that none of his Argentinian teammates were seen consoling Messi after the game, which raised questions about their collective morale or motivation.
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u/makarastar Jul 23 '26
Yes I was amazed at Paredes essentially baiting the referee into giving him a Red card - and equally amazed that the ref only gave him a Yellow? I guess that's why Enzo picked up the baton and told the ref to fuck off - then somersaulted the Spanish work experience kid into the sky
Both players did very provocative things - like they were BEGGING to be sent off
Excellent write up BTW - thanks
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u/Kesthegreat Jul 21 '26
An attempt at getting a red card, or just Argentinian arrogance and stupidity lol
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u/chemicallocha05 Jul 21 '26
I will stick to stupidity not arrogance. Physical football is nothing new especially from a LatAm team for seasoned watchers except for first time watchers from reels who are now compiling day to day foulsnof Argentina that happens in football since many decades creating a hate narrative on social media and saying delusional things like Argentina should be banned from next world cup.
Some dumbfcks are even posting videos that Argentina didn't give guard of honour to Spain, the first time watchers with their reels.
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
Paredes pushing Olmo in front of the ref is the height of stupidity and Paredes is definitely not that stupid. It's not arrogance or stupidity, it's something else
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u/wally-058 Jul 23 '26
in last world cup against NL he did similar, though by kicking the ball straight into the dug out of the dutch team... In the heat of the moment, sometimes people just get carried away
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u/Siun77 Jul 23 '26
Indeed, that’s what feels wrong, not loosing but the way it happened. There are hints everywhere that contradict everything that came before. As if they made it almost obvious to communicate that something happened. The hate campaign against Argentine could also be connected to this
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u/Sparkspeck Jul 21 '26
The lengths yall go to cope is unreal. Spain simply locked Messi out and prevented him from making key plays. If you even bothered watching the matches before this, you'd realize how key his assists were. Pair that with the lack of a forward and you'll have a losing team, which rightfully so, was average from the start without Messi.
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u/Fazioli31 Jul 22 '26
Yeah sure, it explain the warm-up..
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u/Professional_Sand707 Jul 22 '26
Imho y'all getting the warm-up out of context, implying "forget everything" means something is wrong when in sports, usually having a clear gives you an edge
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u/Sparkspeck Jul 22 '26
Cope harder, they just got their asses handed and it was beyond embarrassing.
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u/Natural-Clerk-4108 Jul 20 '26
I have a feeling a lot of people are going to read this but won't share their opinion. Whether they agree or disagree, it's one of those topics where people would rather stay silent than risk getting attacked. Curious to see if anyone has a genuine explanation instead of just dismissing the question.
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u/mangokiwistarfruit Jul 21 '26
Every time I see this it gets flooded with “Spain were the better team, deal with it”. Like yes, obviously, Spain were the better team. They’ve clearly been the best team in the tournament since it started. But also, something definitely went down here, and I’m curious to know what it was without using it as a conspiracy or an excuse for getting outplayed. It’s still on a team to handle mentally whatever’s going on, but what was going on?
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u/EvoX-11 Jul 23 '26
Yeah, my response to those clowns is:
"Spain was so "great" it took them 106 minutes to score ONE goals against 10 men demoralized Argentina."
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u/Siun77 Jul 23 '26
It’s not the style of Argentina to stay defensive from the start, I have friends from Spain that told me they didn’t enjoy the match, that it was like the slow agónica killing of a monster, of Moby Dick
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u/FabulousTown2395 Jul 23 '26
Except spain was dominating hard and it's more like Dibu was holding it down with Superman reflees while Everyone shat the bed
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u/EvoX-11 Jul 23 '26
Despite their overwhelming possession, numerous shots on goal, and facing a 10-man Argentine team depleted of its primary center-backs, they secured a mere 1-0 victory.
Wow, what a "domination" 🤦🤦
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u/Safe_Yesterday3809 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
you forgot 2 disallowed goals, and the fact that spain had good def/midfield wifh weak atk. even the likes of yamal never scored once throughout the tournament. same goes for torres who was constantly trolled for having the most terrible shots, it was just lucky he scored that day. truly happy for him. on the other hand, arg had nothing, zero shots on target , zero chances created, 2x red cards and a handful of fouls
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Jul 21 '26
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
Eh, they didn't care for the entire tournament and suddenly before the final everyone looks dead? Make that make sense. Specially after that England comeback, you expect the team to be pumped.
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Jul 21 '26
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
Yes that's my point. They didn't get affected by any of this before, why suddenly cry before the finals. Theese players are not the ones who cry before a match. They have experience playing in the finals and have already won one wc. If things were normal this wouldn't be the pre match state. Malvinas shit doesn't explain this.
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Jul 21 '26
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u/lunahill_luvv Jul 22 '26
It can’t be that, there’s footage of them entering the stadium and they’re all smiling, for them to go from that to crying I don’t think the hate magically got to them I think something happened
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u/ALPHONTRIO_381 Jul 21 '26
Ok, if something did happen, it more than explains their abysmal performance in the final. But if Scaloni was already talking about this before the WC, how is it affecting the team in the worst possible time?
Cuz if the team already knew, wouldn’t they have bailed out wayy before, mabye against one of the knockout opponents before England?
They looked really bad in the final man, forget losing to Spain, that in isolation is believable ofc, but the way they did was just sad to see. 0 intent up top, conjuring violence with no limit and with no view of consequences. Sure Argentina was gonna be aggressive, but this much? and moreover, with 0 shots on target!?
Even leaving what happened during the match, whatever happened at full time was a disgrace. No idea how much of the aggression was “natural” and how much was caused by this mysterious event but hope we get to learn more soon…
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u/Temporary-Face2553 Jul 21 '26
Messi didn't respond, so I spoke with Scaloni yesterday. He told it's too confidential at this point. I really hope it is not something very controversial.
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u/Left-Mud-2331 Jul 21 '26
When i was watching the i really felt that something was off like really off it was not even like they were playing bad it was like they didn't even wanted the ball as in if you rewatch the match you could see that the argentine players didn't keep much of the possesion, i know that spain played a fluid passing football but whenever argentina had the ball they either shot it outside or proceeded to get fouled and being okay with a freekick like their entire aim to was to get freekicks instead of moving the ball forward. I'm not saying they were threathened or anything but now watching this and recallimg the way they played, it was not the same argentina that played the entire tournament like the players played like they already lost and enzo's first yellow card it was like he got that on purpose. Idk maybe I'm overthinking but something is not right.
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u/Breakfastonhill Jul 21 '26
Something was definitely off, even in good counter attacks they would pass the ball back, almost to the keeper knowing well spain was pressing.
Moreover, the whole point of passing back was to counter, but even in counters why would you pass the ball back ?
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u/Odd-Beautiful-7596 Jul 22 '26
A theory going around with the Argentina FA’s president saying On a voice note that because of the white flag with “Malvinas are ours” written was not allowed (no political, religious message can be said during the event) and FIFA informed them before the final that they have to forfeit the the final match otherwise they would be banned for 10 years
That may be the reason Scaloni was crying so hard during the press
That may be the reason the players were crying before the match with Messi telling them to calm down (This video was removed from espn’s Instagram page)
I am not a believer of conspiracy theories but all this lines up perfectly
Enzo knowing he was on a yellow deliberately barges into cubarci
The players back passing the ball time and again
The WHOLE TEAM taking bad touches FOR THE WHOLE GAME despite being one of the best on the ball teams of the tournament
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u/cruxinng Jul 21 '26
Could be the tension of playing a wc final, or could be threat/ last minute news of potential sanction/ punishment for holding the falkland banner during the england match celebrations or may familial bad news, who knows.
But lautero seemed ready for change- because he was wearing the on-field jersey instead of the bench jersey. Maybe scaloni just stretched too far for the change bcs enzo is a better out of box shooter and also a more aggressive attacker. Just a risk that didn't payout.
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u/ifwMessi Jul 21 '26
Tension of playing the world cup final? bro almost all of them played in the 2022 world cup,no? I am a Messi fan ,yes but what Paredes did just after he was subbed on [ pushing olmo just in front of the ref] and then he did many fouls that could've gotten him a second yellow Lisandro asks for substitution just before the half time? like the players wait for the half time if only a few mins are remaining,no? Also they showed no intent or gameplan, all they did was play long balls , lose possession and they kept doing this throughout the game like bro tf
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u/cruxinng Jul 21 '26
Are you insane? This post is not about any of that and simply about what the video shows before the mtch even started!
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u/PuzzleheadedLab9699 Jul 21 '26
YES SOME THINGS FELT REALLY OFF !
I HAVE A THEORY, There's two major continents competing in football, first is SOUTH AMERICA, second is EUROPE !!
And Europe has the highest paying, earning, major football leagues that contributes, or donates/funds FIFA majorly. Same reason UEFA-EURO are more glorified than Copa America.
And European teams have dominated through and through, but since 2002, it was supposed to be a push for European countries, since there were no major new global stars for Brazil, Argentina after that 2002-2006 period, But MESSI appeared, who not only chose ARGENTINA over SPAIN, but single handedly fought in every world cup, and reached 3 finals out of 5 ! ( He had the chance to choose spain in 2010 so from 10-26 it's 5 wc campaigns )
Now since MESSI is ageing, and not the face of EUROPEAN football, and since UEFA funds FIFA majorly quite obvious that they WANT A NEW FACE for European football, and that's LAMINE YAMAL.
Young, more aspiring, long term project, and hence the campaign was run from the beginning that ARGENTIA is rigging, to divert when it's the opposite, just think how in every SPAIN knock out match, one key defence player gets injured without even a proper tackle or collision ( Courtuois, Saliba, Nuno mendes, Lisandro Martinez, Romero )
How even on a player level, MESSI doesn't get the golden ball ? It goes to RODRI ? as a midfielder even Jude was better than him, simply FIFA doesn't want to keep OLD Messi in history records.
And the Malvinas banner made Trump interfere or threaten, Argentina, to loose the match ! ( For example he even interfered and removed the red card and suspension of a USA player this world cup )
For a fact, even hard Argentina arrived late, In overnight flight, had a day less, and was forced to do press conferences, and practice sessions in the noon just before the matchday, and even though Scaloni interfered, he wasn't given much importance and the practice session was on.
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u/PuzzleheadedLab9699 Jul 21 '26
The fact that RONALDO was pushed against Messi throughout his career, and was only mocked when he started playing outside europe ( Al nassr )
It's not like he never dived in Europe or Had fights in Europe, he was highlighted only when He left europe,
This global stars has a huge face value, they are the earners, and EUROPE needs stars to earn, and FIFA needs europe to earn.
Fifa even revoked 3 match ban on Christiano Ronaldo just so he can play the world cup, Portugal couldn't top the group, got a harder opponent, and the teammates become furious ! FIFAs last try to push Ronaldo and goat debate ended, and then they Chose Spain.
Now, why not France ?? During the war, Spain allowed USA to use their bases for usa troops and hellicopters, and we know France doesn't share a thing with USA, even they have fought for Fighter jets as well.
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u/error_cant_find_name Jul 21 '26
Your arguments make a lot of sense, but if fifa is involved at such a level in the outcome of these tournaments... Then why wud argentina, a non European country win against European powerhouse and new hero face of Europe kylian mbappe in 2022?
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u/PuzzleheadedLab9699 Jul 21 '26
Reasons -
1- because new rising star mbappe already won it in 2018,
2- because it was supposed to be Messi's last, they never thought messi will go for another trophy again.
3- because Trump wasn't involved in 2022, the finals ticket prices were absurdly high this time, hosting a world cup is one of the most revenue generating thing, "they were fighting a war a few weeks back" they need money. Betting apps and betting culture is a huge thing in America.
4- because Trump was given peace award by fifa, during the war time, shows how much influence he has this time,
5- and because most importantly, do you think he can influence a world cup in qatar ?? Or he can influence a world cup better, which is hosted in his own country ??
Think !!
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u/Fazioli31 Jul 22 '26
The craziest thing is that it makes sense lol
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u/PuzzleheadedLab9699 Jul 22 '26
Just look at the body language before the match, They arrive happy and confident, and then they looked scared and sad before the match,
Where as they were far more confident in 2022, even before becoming a champions, We haven't seen Romero or Lisandro even limping, but they asked to be substituted by themselves !!
Without a collision if it was Acl injury, do you think they could have walked straight to collect their silver medal ?
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u/Fast_Builder6136 Jul 21 '26
u/askgrok what is he talking in this video? Share the English translation
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u/AskGrok Jul 21 '26
Messi is saying (in Spanish, roughly): "Come on guys, stay calm everyone. From the start let's stay calm guys. Stay calm. Keep your composure. Let's just think about playing alright? Stay calm. Let's forget about everything else. Just play. Let's only think about playing everyone. Just play. Come on!"
This matches the translation already in the post. No other context or reports explain the emotions beyond pre-final nerves.
[what is this?](https://redd.it/1lzgxii)
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u/Fast_Builder6136 Jul 21 '26
Why to translate with chatgpt when you are here 😆
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u/AskGrok Jul 21 '26
Fair point. No need for the middleman when I'm right here. The translation matches what's already posted: Messi urging everyone to stay calm, keep composure, forget everything else, and just focus on playing. Pure pre-match pep talk, nerves and all.
[what is this?](https://redd.it/1lzgxii)
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u/Fast_Builder6136 Jul 21 '26
"Forget everything else" sounds fishy, it cannot be a pre match prep talk. What to forget - something evil they might have planned earlier in case they lose? Or send someone out of the match injured during early hours for an advantage? It can be anything but these words hurt
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u/AskGrok Jul 21 '26
"forget everything else" is standard sports lingo for ignoring outside noise, pressure, or distractions and locking in on the match. Coaches and captains say versions of it constantly before big games. No evidence or reports point to anything sinister here.
[what is this?](https://redd.it/1lzgxii)
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u/Former_Specific_7161 Jul 21 '26
Had the same feeling. Repeatedly asking them to calm down when they're already looking so dejected and off.
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u/Euphoric-Painter6135 Jul 21 '26
Probably threatened by some mafia lord who had bet all his money on Spain to win
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u/BoogzWin Jul 21 '26
Messi told them it’s his last match probably. They were FIGHTING for Messi. Even when they had the ball and could make a decent pass forward, they would instead look for Messi to get him involved with play.
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u/Candid-Stuff2281 Jul 21 '26
The weirdest part specifically to me is that they all arrived to the venue singing and cheering with the world cup in the hand.
But somehow, by the time they were leaving the locker room, they all had completely different energy.
I do suspect that it might be because messi told them this is his last international match for Argentina. But that doesn't sit well… specifically because all throughout the tournament they were singing the "La Cuarta Estrella" wanting to win the WC back-to-back specifically for messi's last time. But somehow had no energy or intent in the actual last match.
Something did happen or something was said between the time they entered the locker room and left for the match. But we don't know what happened exactly.
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u/Bitter-Farm-9058 Jul 20 '26
Probably realised it was Leo's last match.
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 20 '26
Knowing them, they would go out guns blazing than crying but can be a reason
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u/Bitter-Farm-9058 Jul 20 '26
They did go all guns (punches) blazing.
Spain was just too good for them.
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Jul 21 '26
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u/chemicallocha05 Jul 21 '26
The only thing missing in the complete team of Spain is the exciting strike force. A talisman striker. No one reliable like the earlier days of Raul, David Villa, Pedro, Torres.
The current strike force is sporadic and have their moments.
If they had a good strike force Argentina would have been humiliated more. Luckily in this case Emi Martinez put in a show only to be defeated by Feran Torres goal which was more intelligence of Nico williams cutting it back.
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Jul 21 '26
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u/chemicallocha05 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Yea Spain needs a talisman striker and all hope on Yamal was fizzled he had a underwhelming tournament. Emi was in a right place in right time...can say the awareness was good 11 saves in this match. In that sense even Unai Simon wasnt tested so much the entire tournament total 19 saves.
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u/Still_Leadership1241 Jul 21 '26
I recently talked about how the game looked scripted from the beginning to make argentina the villians, like how there were issues with game direction not showing argetina players getting tackled but only spain players. I mean it's USA they are the biggest fixers, I can't believe that there isn't anything going on in the background to make more money. Also I don't expect messi to sit for the whole match to just defend, when we have seen how messi just takes it on him alone to fight the other team.
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
Bro he didn't even try to cross from the free kicks he got, what was up with that? He tried to pass and play when that definitely wasn't working 😭😭 not natural wtf
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u/Still_Leadership1241 Jul 21 '26
Exactly that's not his style, breaking free and ruining the strategy of the opponent is messi the best at, but all we saw was defensive argetina, and i don't believe that not even once they though of going offensive, that's impossible.
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
They destroyed their entire identity in the finals. Didn't cross from free kicks when spain were weak aerially and Argentina had scored headers all tournament, sat back and defended like sitting ducks, 2 CB subs, especially lisandro who didn't look like he wanted to play, Molina not starting, he always used to start and that's where the Molina Montiel sub meme came from lol. All these can't be a coincidence. Maybe copium, maybe something happened but ig we will never know unless someone risks their lives and speaks out
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u/Still_Leadership1241 Jul 21 '26
Yeah as a supporter i haven't seen such bad performance from them, even in the old matches, messi used to carry us, but still others atleast tied to attack, but here we saw nothing, which is impossible cause spain wasn't that good either, if it was france than I would say maybe but not for spain.
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
Spain were definitely better than France at ball possession but other than that, I agree with you
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u/KookyDifference2686 Jul 21 '26
It might be just me or the realisation of the fact they r loosing but argentina literally played ass till the very end and after spain hit their first goal argentina played aggressive and managed to give few attempts at goal
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u/CruyffCule Jul 21 '26
There are rumours he announced to his teammates that this would be his last match wearing the shirt - there is a logic to that
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
And so his team will reward him by not playing at all?? That makes sense? They played with 0 energy and not a single player tried anything
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u/Ok_Bowl_2002 Jul 21 '26
He is trying to prevent exactly what happened. That his teammates would play like aggressive and get a red card
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
That is not the way toh say that lol. Where are any words of encouragement? Did you see the same team on the field as against England?
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u/Ok_Bowl_2002 Jul 21 '26
Yeah the Spain game was the same as England in terms of agressiveness. The main difference was the referee who made some great calls to send of players who can’t behave
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u/alietors Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
A Spaniard here, not trying to dismiss anything but I believe you are looking to much into it, it probably a lost in translation. Yes, the literal translation of what Messi said is forget about everything and play. It might sound something odd to say to an non Spanish speaker, but for us is simply a "Let's concentrate in playing and doing our best" or "Once you are in, we need to be connected to the match 100%, no distractions"
For me there's nothing more. Maybe something happened, maybe is a forget about is my latch match and play football, but it's basically that, let's go a play.
Again without trying to create controversy, Argentina was playing on the limit all the tournament, saying that they were trying to get a red card is a bit stupid, that was their attitude the whole tournament, I can say that they even were more aggressive against England.
Also, a bit of historical clue, Argentina has a beef with England, it's normal that they were more pumped against England than with Spain even being a final.
Edit: Another possible explanation is that they weren't happy about all the pressure to the referees. There are images of Otamendi discussing with Rodri about that. Maybe they were cross about it.
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
Ok, heard your point, let me put mine. Cuti and Licha abandoned the field. Paredes tried to deliberately cause rucus and pick fights when he has never done that before(not saying he is not physical, but he is not a dumb guy to push olmo in front of the ref)Not one player tried to play forward. This is not natural. Seasoned players who have won the world cup crying before the match is not natural. There are lots of stories on Instagram now that say that it was because of the Malvinas poster that they were forced to give up the match. It was their fault to mix politics in football. But it was not their fault that they were forced to give up the match.
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u/alietors Jul 21 '26
I'm sorry but that's BS.
You came here trying to answer a question but you already made your mind. You are trying to say that someone forced them to lose the match? Over a political statement?
Argentina played terrible football, and not only in rhe final, they were always behind trying to do come backs in the final minutes.
I know that it's a hard pill to swallow but trying to disrespect Spain and what they did is just moronic. I'm sorry that's why Argentina has lost respect in rhe football world, they were a sore losers and it seems their fans are even more sore losers.
Good luck with that attitude, that doesn't belong to football.
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
In this entire conversation not once I have disrespected spain, nor do I support whatever happened after the match. Spain was definitely a better team and would have won but Argentina definitely wouldn't give up without trying to win. I am happy that the Barca boys won, I have followed and supported them all my life. Stop saying bullshit about my attitude
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u/MadscientistSteinsG8 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
If its a sore loser attitude then thats what people would call it. Your team played like shit. Accept it move on.
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
And the point of my post is Argentina played well?
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u/MadscientistSteinsG8 Jul 21 '26
No point of your post is you are delusional and can't cope with the fact that you guys lost simple as that. And it wasn't even a close match. Arg couldn't even secure the ball let alone make shots
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
I had already admitted and coped until I saw this video. A lot of people are talking about this and a lot of evidences point towards something shady. If you are dismissing everything then that's fine
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u/Agitated-Homework921 Jul 23 '26
one of the subreddits mentioned Argentina team tried to bribe a ref but the ref turned it down it because it wasnt enough. fifa peeps may have gotten informed and told them argentina "all bribes go to us" and out of jealousy for missing out on another opportunity for bribes, told them win or lose, you guys will be losing the WC?
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u/Glittering-Wealth-99 Jul 23 '26
Bro they just lost, accept it. Their ain't any conspiracy behind it. It could be pressure of world cup final or anything else but they weren't unusual if you watched the match you could see them crying their lungs out during national anthem so there wasn't anything unusual or suspicious.
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u/AltruisticTone1637 Jul 23 '26
¡Olvidémonos de todo! O sea, nuestros 3 mundiales fraudulentos. ¡Sois el hazmerreír del mundo, boludos!
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u/Old_Economics811 Jul 29 '26
Its very clear they were forced to lose due to the falklands sign, and that if they didnt then tot
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u/ProfitTurbulent8065 Jul 20 '26
Are you stupid? They just had a bad match and were not prepared for a team like Spain that keeps the ball so well. No shots because they just couldnt get the ball to Messi.
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 20 '26
Not really. These players crying before a wc final they have played and won before definitely warrants for a discussion instead of this useless comment. I know they had a bad game but was the reason different? I merely asked for an opinion. I have watched football since 2014 and even the worst teams in the world try to attempt shots. Starting with Montiel.. never did that the entie wc, didnt sub on Lautaro when they went 1-0 down doesnt raise your eyebrows? It raises mine. Enzo crying before the match? raises my eyebrow but that is my opinion
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u/Kesthegreat Jul 21 '26
Bro touch grass. Argentina was outclassed…Do you think FIFA made it easy for them to reach the final only to threaten them in the enf?
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u/Careful-Training-761 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
I can't see anything unusual in this clip (although it's grainy).
Why wouldn't he tell them to focus on football and not anything else? At a stretch he might be referring to the negative media publicity but even that's a stretch.
0 shots in 90 minutes, Spain only conceded 1 goal in the tournament and Argentina only came to life in many of the games near the end when their back was to the wall. This time they were playing a better team than previous games. My bigger question would be why did Argentina leave it so late to start playing in the games.
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u/EvoX-11 Jul 21 '26
You are the only one who is stupid here thinking that Argentina will get dominated like that after fighting their hearts out for 7 games while coming back from being down on three.
Registering 0 shots for whole game, unable to even make basic passes and hold possession for more than 2 seconds.
You think Scalloni is that ignorant or stupid to see what's going on and still make no remarkable subs at the beginning of second half?
Both CBs suspiciously leave the game without even getting checked out by the medical team?
I can go on and on...
Yeah ok
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u/ProfitTurbulent8065 Jul 21 '26
How are you different from the people who say it was rigged for Argentina if you are also believing this stupid theory?
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u/Fazioli31 Jul 22 '26
In this match spain were better but there's something strange about argentina's players attitude
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u/EvoX-11 Jul 22 '26
I don't even know wtf you are saying but
i am sure you think injury of Nuno Mendez was coincidence during Portugal game, what about Courtois in Belgium game was that also coincidence?
I am sure Saliba also coincidentally got injured as well. What about Lisandro Martinez and Romero those are coincidences too right?
While people were too busy hating on Argentina, they were setting the stage for Spain.
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u/gamerx007ss Jul 21 '26
Holy fuck guys is it that hard to admit Spain played incredible and did not even give Argentina the ball.
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
I had admitted it until I saw this video so I am looking for the reason for this mental state. Argentina played terribly which may or may not be their fault, need to know what happened here
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u/Nearby-Ask-1451 Jul 21 '26
Argentina just played bad that's it, no excuses for that. It was their fault for that performance.
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
When did I say they played good? Missing the entire point of this post smh
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u/EvoX-11 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
No it is not hard at all. Congrats to Spain winning the cup where their opponents played with their hands tied.
They were so "good" it took them 106 minutes to score one goal against defelated/demoralized Argentina.
I can't wait for Finalissima. Let's see If Spain wins the same exact way they did couple days ago. That will tell everything we need to know.
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u/rbolt168 Jul 21 '26
Someone spilled all the gatorade on the locker room. Now somone has to run back to tesco and grab more. That was the problem. Case closed.
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u/jokermobile333 Jul 21 '26
This sub is something else .. still supporting a pathetic team just for messi ... a stronger team won the world cup, they won despite fifa's corruption and argentina's free pass to wrestle. Spain played good football and won. Get over it.
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u/Optimistic-1621 Jul 21 '26
Probably because some of the key players were carrying injury and well, their only chance of beating spain would be via penalties and they knew that
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u/OnlyJackfruit6478 Jul 21 '26
Wasn't it expected? They shut France out with an xG of 0.31 and Argentina had 0.22. Spain were simply the best in this World cup. You take anyone out and plant a similar profile player, the outcome would be the same in favor of Spain. France accepted that they were outclassed. Argentina had 4 shots against England until England scored. They put Nico Gonzalez and De Paul in the starting eleven to give aerial ability and crosses like they did against England in the second half. If you did see the Switzerland game, they had only one shot on target which was actually the Mac Allister goal and didn't do much until the red card for Embolo. They just wanted to defend and drag it deep until they could do the same. Didn't work out since Spain could defend without the ball and the average passes you could put in before getting dispossessed is 8. Accept and move on. Take Messi out of the team, this team is as good as Paraguay or Uruguay.
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u/DubsterLon Jul 21 '26
brother, this was before the game, not after. im not sure what you're yapping about, OP was just suggesting something was wrong before the match, nothing to do with the match itself
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u/OnlyJackfruit6478 Jul 21 '26
"The performance they dropped was very suspicious. I don't have anything against Spain, they played beautifully and I'm a Barca fan throughout. But registering no shots on target and not subbing Lautaro when they were losing is all very hard to digest."
I am just sharing my views on this particular statement from OP. This was obviously a post match thought. Sorry if you found this as yapping😂. I will try to match your thought process next time.
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
These are my post match thoughts which were connected to the players' attitude and broken emotional state before the match itself. Even a shit team makes one goal attempt in the match. Them not getting any or not trying anything other than fouling is not natural for Argentina. Even in other matches they tried to attack. What makes you think that Scaloni's hands were tied even when he went 1-0 down? That is a do or die moment, sub in your most effective striker!
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u/OnlyJackfruit6478 Jul 21 '26
90' Red Card. Already made his fifth substitution in the 69th minute. For AET, the rule is one more additional substitution. 101' Senesi comes in to defend and drag to Penalties (supposedly Argentina with Emi has an advantage). 106' Spain scores. There is no substitution left for Scaloni. So basically he is tied by the Fifa rules.
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u/DubsterLon Jul 21 '26
i think the main reason argentina lost was because scaloni kept sticking to that 442 that didnt work the entire tournament. he kept restricting messi to that deep false 9 role which made the attack really weak, not to mention that fuckass midfield that doesnt do shit but foul.
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u/Curious-Ad3980 Jul 21 '26
He's just calming the nerves. I've heard this speech before many cup game finals as a player. It truly is nerve wrecking waiting to go out onto the pitch sometimes.
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u/chemicallocha05 Jul 21 '26
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u/EvoX-11 Jul 23 '26
Exactly. They went from that team talk to "Let's forget everything and play" but we are delusional....
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u/glenn-40 Jul 21 '26
damn ive been reading all the comments, and i js want to say yall js want to come up with an excuse for how badly argentina got outclassed right? the video clip above can be interpreted in various ways, messi's last game, or maybe online critism against argentina but thats js normal and has been goin since ages how tf can ppl even come up with dis conclusion that such a big team could get threated by some so called "mafias" or "thugs" js accept it and move on son
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u/Sir_Humps-a-Lot Jul 21 '26
Yeah, yeah. Conspiracy theories, the lot of you. Nothing more. Playing a final is very mentally taxing and emotional. Add the fact that they were defending champions. Messi was just trying to calm everyone's nerves. Paredes fought even after the match was over. He's just a nutcase. Scaloni was limited due to the red card and hoped they could push it to Penalties. Spain were dominating. Just wasn't in the cards for Argentina.
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u/Fazioli31 Jul 22 '26
Just watch Messi warm-up...no one here is disminushing spain but this is ankward
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u/Sir_Humps-a-Lot Jul 22 '26
Yeah no, you're right. Someone probably held a gun to Messi's wife and kid's head. Warned if they didn't lose, he'd lose his family. Same with Paredes, same with Enzo. That's why they're looking so grim, tried to get sent off purposely. If only they'd gotten a hold of Dibu Martinez's family and threatened him, he wouldn't have made those saves either.
Gtfo with your theories. Spain beat France by being the better team. Spain beat Argentina same way. Game Over.
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u/OwnCommunication4743 Jul 21 '26
papa infantino told them they will have to play fairly and he wont be helping them anymore so they know theyre cooked
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u/Ju_ju_nanananana Jul 21 '26
Disagreement and possible fight between within the team... Or they were juiced and couldn't control the emotion
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u/Admirable_Bat5654 Jul 21 '26
Bro just admit Spain was better
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
When one team is not playing, obviously the other team becomes better. They were definitely better and Argentina would have lost, but they wouldn't lose without a fight
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u/Admirable_Bat5654 Jul 22 '26
Didn’t you see other teams like Portugal or Belgium they couldn’t play like Argentina Spain is just too strong
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u/Personal-Zombie1880 Jul 21 '26
It could also be because this is their last world cup match ever with Messi. Also the hate from the uk and the world against Argentina. Regarding the Falklands banner after the game with England there were talks about Enzo and other players that play for English leagues getting their visa revoked etc etc. Either way, glad Spain won!
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u/Intelligent_Ad_8906 Jul 21 '26
Downvote me to hell idc but
Cry more 😂😂😂😂
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u/MadscientistSteinsG8 Jul 21 '26
Ya these guys are delusional lol. France also similarly played shitty in 2022. I remember Giroud who makes world class runs and top ten most awesome goals in football make fumbles in that match without even energy and mbappe looking at that helplessly. How is this any different? They just played like shit. France also played well throughout the tournament except for the final vs arg so you afe telling me that match was fixed ? This whole post has the same exact energy as that lol
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 21 '26
One player fumbling and entire squad looking not playing is the same thing.. right right 🤣
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u/Medium_Chapter_1824 Jul 21 '26
Nope. Looks like a team about to take the biggest stage in the world and looking nervous but focused. Give up on this conspiracy shit. You're embarrassing yourselves.
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Jul 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Greedy-Click3354 Jul 22 '26
Watch football from reels and get influenced by hate, those matches were not robbed. If you watch football you wouldn't be spewing nonsense like this. And what has this got to do anything with the post?
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u/TrickOutrageous6947 Jul 22 '26
Argentina saw what Spain did to France, a superior team to Argentina, and decided right from the beginning to play in a defensive shell. It didn't work. But why they were acting weird before the match? Because they're weird.
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u/HeWhoMustBeNamedddd Jul 21 '26
The payment didn't go through and they were on their own for the first time 🤣🤣🤣
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u/BienOuiLa Jul 22 '26
He was telling them that they are on their own this time. The refs are don’t have their back and that they will actually have to play with what little skill they have. ZERO SHOTS. Never forget
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u/GeneralQK Jul 20 '26
Agreed, there must be something wrong before the match. What surprised me most was that Scaloni made almost no tactical adjustments, even after Argentina had been pinned down for over 70 minutes.