EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Spain had just sealed a 1-0 victory in the World Cup final. The trophy was waiting. The confetti was loaded. And then Argentina lost it.
Leandro Paredes didn’t just get sent off after the final whistle. He appeared to shove Eric Garcia by the throat, wrestled Gavi to the ground, pushed into his face, and then kicked out at him. The red card was almost an afterthought by then.
Nahuel Molina started the chaos. As Spain’s substitutes sprinted onto the pitch in celebration, Molina ran past one of them and threw a punch into the guy’s stomach. It was a low blow, literally and figuratively, and it set the tone for everything that followed.
This was supposed to be Lionel Messi’s final bow on the World Cup stage. His chance to win back-to-back titles for Argentina. Instead, the night ended with his teammates throwing haymakers in the middle of a pitch full of celebrating Spaniards.
“It’s a disgrace,” Gary Neville said on ITV. “I love the competitiveness of the Argentines, fighting and scrapping for their lives. Messi has propped them up. But it’s been a disgrace the last few games.”
Alan Shearer didn’t hold back either. “Paredes threw two or three haymakers into someone’s face. He went for them. There is no place or space for that,” Shearer said on the BBC. “We know how much it means to them and we know how much it hurts to lose. But there is a way to lose. Too many times we have seen that from Argentina. The reaction after the final whistle is terrible.”
How the Final Unraveled
The game itself was tight. Spain grabbed a second-half lead and never let go. Argentina couldn’t find an equalizer. Messi looked frustrated. The whole team looked frustrated. And when the whistle blew, that frustration boiled over into something ugly.
Spain’s bench emptied onto the field to mob their teammates. That’s normal. What’s not normal is an opposing defender clocking one of them in the gut while running past. Molina’s punch didn’t connect flush, but it was intentional enough that you could see his fist clench.
Then came Paredes. The midfielder went straight for Eric Garcia, grabbing him by the throat and shoving him backward. Garcia didn’t retaliate. Probably smart. Then Gavi got involved, and Paredes wrestled him to the ground. There was a hand in the face. There was a kick. There was a red card shown after the game had technically ended.
Argentina’s staff eventually pulled their players away. Spain lifted the trophy a few minutes later. But the post-match conversation wasn’t about Spain’s victory. It was about Argentina’s meltdown.
Messi’s Sad Ending
For Messi, this isn’t how the story was supposed to go. He carried this team through the tournament. He’s been the emotional anchor for years. But he couldn’t drag them over the line this time, and he couldn’t stop them from embarrassing themselves afterward.
Argentina has a reputation for playing on the edge. Sometimes that edge cuts the other team. On Sunday night, it cut them. And it cut deep.
Fans online were quick to call the behavior childish. Some pointed at the pressure of a World Cup final. Others pointed at a lack of discipline. Whatever the cause, the images of Paredes scrapping on the ground and Molina throwing a cheap shot are going to define this final a lot longer than the scoreline will.
Spain deserved the win. Argentina deserved the walk of shame.
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