Lionel Messi Under Fire for Escaping Red Card in Argentina World Cup Opener

Despite a brilliant performance to start Argentina‘s World Cup title defense, superstar Lionel Messi is drawing criticism for a challenge that many believe deserved a red card.

The man considered one of the greatest soccer players in the world scored a hat trick in his team’s 2026 opener, delighting the crowd at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, which included NFL star Patrick Mahomes.

An early offside call nullified what looked like his first goal, but Messi would then score at the 17-minute mark. He moved ahead of France’s Kylian Mbappe into a tie for second place on the all-time World Cup goals list when he scored at 60 minutes.

Messi’s third goal, which tied him for the top of that list, arrived at 76 minutes in, but there are plenty of critics who believe he shouldn’t have been on the pitch for his second goal due to a bad play that got overlooked.

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The challenge in question occurred 31 minutes into the match. Footage shows Messi going after Algeria’s Aissa Mandi from behind with two hands to his back and his foot to the back of Mandi’s calf.

Mandi went down, and Messi immediately went over to check on him, showing worry over Mandi’s condition. There was no referee review of the play, which seems to suggest one of the biggest stars under the spotlight got away with one. It looked like a potential injury-causing from the live footage, replays, and still shots.

Former footballers Nedum Onuoha and Ale Moreno both believed the play was deserving of a red card but the referees missed it. They shared their thoughts on the incident post-match.

“It probably should have been a red card, in my opinion. It feels like the moment was missed because obviously the stills are making it look quite bad, but when the player was on the floor, you can see Messi had a level of concern because he knew that he had done something here which could potentially get him in trouble,” Onuoha said during the ESPN UK post-match commentary.

Onuoha also mentioned the commentators barely talked about that incident being worthy of a red card and went on to continue praising the Argentinian superstar.

“100% a red card for Lionel Messi,” Moreno added. “Should have been, and it does play into that narrative, these guys get a different sort of treatment … You see the replay and this is a bad challenge. Somebody has to take a look at this.”

“As much as I love Lionel Messi, that was a clumsy challenge, a bad challenge, and you’re raking the back of somebody’s calf, all the way up from his knee down to his ankle,” Moreno said.

Neither Mandi nor his coach questioned the uncalled card after the game, and they mostly talked of how good Messi’s performance was.

Unfortunately, this overlooked play arrives amid an otherwise spectacular outing for one of the world’s best footballers. Messi clearly was in the wrong, and the referees seemingly protected him from not being out there to dazzle the massive crowd in Kansas City and the many more watching elsewhere.

The 3-0 win put Argentina into an early tie with Austria at the top of Group J with three points. Those two teams play one another at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Monday, June 22, at 1 p.m. ET.

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This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 12:45 PM.