Lionel Scaloni attended the pre-match press conference for the Argentina national team at the 2026 World Cup. Besides sharing thoughts about the clash against Cape Verde in the round of 16, he also spoke out regarding rumors claiming that Argentina is being favored by referees at the tournament.
As soon as he received the question, the Argentine strategist stated that the simplest way for the whole team not to be affected by speculations is to avoid reading comments on social media. Scaloni replied briefly: “Don’t read social media. Don’t look at social media and that’s it. If you don’t look, you won’t even know those things exist.”
The 48-year-old manager argued that in an era of rapidly growing social media, any groundless information can spread at breakneck speed and cause the truth to be overshadowed. He added:
“Nowadays, anyone can post something without any basis, and then from a very small matter, it gets blown up into a huge issue. I think we shouldn’t worry too much about that.”
Scaloni also emphasized that the whole team understands very well that the achieved results come from collective effort, not thanks to any favor. He said: “Social media has its good sides but also its bad sides. Anyone can post something and within just a few seconds it spreads everywhere. We don’t mind those things.”
The suspicions targeting Argentina emerged despite the Tango side delivering a very convincing performance at the 2026 World Cup. Scaloni and his students won all 3 group stage matches against Algeria (3-0), Austria (2-0), and Jordan (3-1).
Notably, Argentina was only awarded 1 clear penalty after three matchdays and has only had 2 players receive yellow cards since the start of the tournament, namely Leandro Paredes and Facundo Medina. These statistics are seen as proof showing that the South American team does not receive any special favor like the rumors circulating on social media.”
