Lionel Messi 's World Cup opener against Algeria is becoming a showcase of his brilliance, but one controversial challenge has put the spotlight on the officials too.
The Argentina captain is delivering the kind of performance that quickly takes over a tournament, yet a tackle on Aissa Mandi is now sitting beside his goals as a major talking point.
The frustration is not only about whether Messi should see red, but how the incident passes without even a yellow card. That decision feels even bigger because of what Messi does after staying on the pitch.
Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images
Footage shared by a fan on X shows the challenge that has left fans arguing Messi is fortunate to avoid punishment against Algeria.
The tackle on Mandi appears serious enough to warrant at least a closer look, yet Messi is not even shown a yellow card. For critics, that is what turns it into a VAR controversy, because the debate is not just red card or no red card, it is how the challenge ends with no booking at all.
Messi has scored a hat trick in Argentina's World Cup opener, but the incident comes after his first goal, meaning a sending-off at that stage would have left him with only one goal on the night.
Instead, Argentina kept their captain on the pitch, and Messi continues to shape the game in the way only he can.
The reaction online has been sharp, with fans debating both the severity of the challenge and whether superstar status played into the lack of punishment.
One fan wrote, "That's a red." Another pushed back, saying, "At most, it would be yellow, and even then, it lacks the intensity."
Others were far less forgiving. One comment read, "It didn't injure them by a miracle, but the tackle is extremely serious," while another added, "That guy gets away with everything."
The debate also reopened old frustrations around Argentina's 2022 World Cup run. One fan claimed, "It's nothing new, last World Cup they gave him 5 penalties in 7 games so he could be champion."
Messi's hat trick was the football headline, but plenty of fans were focused on the officiating question. They want to know how a challenge on Mandi can go unpunished when the same player stays on to decide the match.
Read more:
