More than 100,000 Argentine supporters have signed an online petition demanding that FIFA order a replay of the 2026 World Cup final against Spain, days after Lionel Messi and Co. suffered a heartbreaking defeat in New Jersey.
The petition, launched by Argentina supporter Gisela Sánchez on Change.org, had crossed 101,613 verified signatures by Saturday. It alleges that Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić made a series of controversial decisions which affected the outcome of the final and has called on FIFA to review his performance.
Argentina’s hopes of becoming the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the World Cup were ended by Spain, who secured a 1-0 victory after extra time. Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal in the 106th minute as Luis de la Fuente’s side lifted the trophy for the second time in their history.
The defeat was particularly painful for Argentina supporters with the tournament potentially having marked Lionel Messi’s final World Cup appearance. Argentina also finished the final with 10 men after midfielder Enzo Fernández was sent off following a second yellow card.
Sánchez’s petition accuses Vinčić of delivering a “controversial and corrupt” performance and claims several of his decisions went against Argentina. It also points towards videos circulating on social media, which supporters believe demonstrate irregularities in the officiating.
The petition calls upon FIFA to investigate the incidents “with seriousness and transparency” and consider staging the final again.
There is, however, no verified evidence supporting allegations of corruption or deliberate manipulation by Vinčić or FIFA. An online petition also carries no sporting or regulatory authority capable of forcing FIFA to overturn the result. The world football body has so far given no indication that the final will be reviewed or replayed.
Argentina FA rejects conspiracy theories
Interestingly, Argentina’s own football authorities have distanced themselves from suggestions that the defeat should be blamed on refereeing. Argentine Football Association president Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia acknowledged Spain’s superiority while urging supporters to accept the result.
“They were superior, they won fair and square, and we have to acknowledge that,” Tapia said, while warning supporters against being influenced by misinformation surrounding the final.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has also rejected conspiracy theories over Vinčić’s officiating and conceded that Spain were the better team. The replay campaign is not the only extraordinary petition to emerge from Argentina’s World Cup run.
A separate online campaign calling for Argentina to be banned from future World Cups attracted a claimed 23,316,108 signatures before closing after Spain defeated Scaloni’s side in the final. The campaign had accused FIFA and match officials of favouring Argentina and Messi during the tournament.
The enormous stated figure took the campaign close to a Guinness World Record benchmark of 24,319,181 signatures associated with the Jubilee 2000 petition, although the latter was a hand-signed campaign and the Argentina petition’s tally was reported by its organisers rather than independently certified by Guinness. The rival petitions underline the extraordinary fallout from a World Cup final that continues to generate controversy even after Spain walked away with the trophy.
