Institutional favouritism at the world cup

[alani123]

There are growing suspicions that FIFA might have made some special deals to place certain countries in more preferential groups and asked referees to support them. For instance many have said Messi should have been given a red card for aggressive tackles and many Argentine played also were aggressive but referees didn't touch the. Instead their opponents were given cards just for speaking at times.

Then there's also the fact that certain countries will be placed at noticeably easier brackets if they pass on the second phase while others will have a notoriously harder path to victory from the start.

The final straw was FIFA commuting the standard three match ban specifically for Christiano Ronaldo after he was the recipient of a card.

There are some very clear signs of favouritism.

[_act_]

There are some very clear signs of favouritism.

Is it not Argentina versus Algeria that you are taking about? I did not watch the match, but I saw exactly what you are saying here online not long after the match.

Is it favoritism that make Algeria not to be able to score just 1? Argentina players are stronger than Algeria players was what I saw in that match and Messi scored 3 goals.

[Cryptohygenic]

There are growing suspicions that FIFA might have made some special deals to place certain countries in more preferential groups and asked referees to support them. For instance many have said Messi should have been given a red card for aggressive tackles and many Argentine played also were aggressive but referees didn't touch the. Instead their opponents were given cards just for speaking at times.

There are international observers on board to believe this suspicions to be true.
Since when did we also begin to have this mindset that such a top match like the world cup can be so manipulated to favour a particular team? I guess it was just those unpopular leagues we have this kind of thought?
Anyways, some fans would say it is Ronaldo's fans that is having this exaggeration who are not happy for the so far history Messi had made over the 2026 FIFA World Cup while their Goat at Ronaldo had not scored a single goal.
So they want cause unnecessary fight. 

[obuoma]

There are growing suspicions that FIFA might have made some special deals to place certain countries in more preferential groups and asked referees to support them. For instance many have said Messi should have been given a red card for aggressive tackles and many Argentine played also were aggressive but referees didn't touch the. Instead their opponents were given cards just for speaking at times.

I don't believe this conspiracy theory one bit, there is no clear favoritism in the ongoing world cup. The tournament is just starting and people are already looking for a way to discredit FIFA. The world cup cannot be manipulated to favor certain players or teams, it will become obvious and FIFA will be making a mockery of itself. I believe that the referee that did not give Messi red card will have his reasons else he would have been facing disciplinary committee by now.

[ryzaadit]

Yes, yes and yes.

Its called childs of Fifa. Actually, not just Messi cause Ronaldo are also can get the same priviliage especially for getting a Penalty -lol. These is not the first time topics.

Is already repeated topics for Fifa favourite.

[laspol65]

Maybe because the referee is harsh towards the weaker team, which in this match Messi's tackle was very unfair because the tackle was done from behind. So of course Messi was somewhat guilty in this match but comparatively the referee did not give any punishment for this crime. Because many people have questioned if this had happened to other players then of course he would have been punished so why was this done to Messi?
Because everyone is equal on the playing field and it is not right to give special respect to someone. So of course Messi deserved the punishment in this match.

[Hispo]

We should not be surprised, though.
There has been proven FIFA is quite a corrupt institution, so it would be possible they have arranged some stuff in order for some teams to have advantages against others, all in order to profit as much as possible from this world cup. If all this is true, then it is obvious it has become convenient for the administration of the FIFA to have Argentina to advance as much as possible through the tournament.

The worst part about these allegations is how they are not going to be considered by the administration of clubs and those who have been put in disadvantageous positions would be probably too scared to speak up against favorite teams, risking to get punished by the FIFA itself.

It is clear that anyone who dares to go against the highest bosses of the Federation could get their career stained and ruined.

[alegotardo]

There are growing suspicions that FIFA might have made some special deals to place certain countries in more preferential groups and asked referees to support them. For instance many have said Messi should have been given a red card for aggressive tackles and many Argentine played also were aggressive but referees didn't touch the. Instead their opponents were given cards just for speaking at times.

Then there's also the fact that certain countries will be placed at noticeably easier brackets if they pass on the second phase while others will have a notoriously harder path to victory from the start.

The final straw was FIFA commuting the standard three match ban specifically for Christiano Ronaldo after he was the recipient of a card.

There are some very clear signs of favouritism.

There will always be suspicions and controversies about referees may have favored to a particular team or player, but I do not believe that have any institutional scheme within FIFA designed to favor one selection footbal country over another.

The fact is that we will never be able to prove anything. At best, we will find assumptions and speculation and this alone is not enough to change anything.

As for the last match of Messi, even if there had been a refereeing mistake or some unfair advantage granted by referees, lets to be honest... Algeria no had chance to winning that match. So the question that I ask is: Would Argentina really need to be favored? I believe they have enough qualitytechnical to reach the final of the tournament without need any illegal advantage.

[Ummeettaa]

There are growing suspicions that FIFA might have made some special deals to place certain countries in more preferential groups and asked referees to support them. For instance many have said Messi should have been given a red card for aggressive tackles and many Argentine played also were aggressive but referees didn't touch the. Instead their opponents were given cards just for speaking at times.

Then there's also the fact that certain countries will be placed at noticeably easier brackets if they pass on the second phase while others will have a notoriously harder path to victory from the start.

The final straw was FIFA commuting the standard three match ban specifically for Christiano Ronaldo after he was the recipient of a card.

There are some very clear signs of favouritism.

This is a very huge accusations which is hard to believe to be possible, the grouping were been done openly with all countries representatives present and done squarely.

So what made you say or how possible is it for some counties to be able to bribe there way in for preferential group and referees support.

Which specific country or countries are you referring to, I will be right to say the country or countries you are supporting are not performing well or placed in a tough group.

The question should have been directed to your supporting country or countries for not performing well, with how competitive this tournament is with every nations both the average and the big one's fighting for spot and qualifications, you should have blamed your country or countries rather than wrongly accusing those performing well for cheating.

[eaLiTy]

There are growing suspicions that FIFA might have made some special deals to place certain countries in more preferential groups and asked referees to support them. For instance many have said Messi should have been given a red card for aggressive tackles and many Argentine played also were aggressive but referees didn't touch the. Instead their opponents were given cards just for speaking at times.

You can blame the referee for giving special  leniency to certain players, then I can accept that. There is no way FIFA would make any deals, which is actually absurd. I accept there will be superstar bias from the referee because sending off a big player will have a huge impact on the broadcasters and the tournament itself, so they will be cautious in that aspect, especially very earlier in the tournament.

If you apply the same refereeing standards as the first match, where three red cards were shown, Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Alexis Mac Allister, Sadio Mané,  Antonio Rüdiger and Mohammad Mohebi would have received red cards.

Then there's also the fact that certain countries will be placed at noticeably easier brackets if they pass on the second phase while others will have a notoriously harder path to victory from the start.

If you have a complaint in this regard, then there is a huge flaw in the selection process that determines who plays in the World Cup. A top country like Italy is missing while the tournament expands to include more teams.

Imagine a team like Italy, which is ranked 12th, is not in the World Cup, while Denmark which is ranked 21st and Nigeria which is ranked 26th in the World are not in this tournament either. Meanwhile, teams like New Zealand, which is ranked 84th, and Haiti which is ranked 87th, to name a few and other lower ranked teams are included. Do you think that is fair ?.

The final straw was FIFA commuting the standard three match ban specifically for Christiano Ronaldo after he was the recipient of a card.

There are some very clear signs of favouritism.

The special provision applied to Cristiano Ronaldo was because, across more than 220 senior international appearances for Portugal prior to that match, Ronaldo had never once received a red card. FIFA did not change any rules, instead, a conditional suspension was granted according to the current regulations.

[Bryan jessy]

Favoritism in world cup! I believe it just some fans who cooking up such ideation aside the referee there are other bodies in charge and over seeing the game so I doubt if there's an underground plan, if truly the referee was being unfair that could be his own way of monitoring the game but I still doubt any player was involved in that action. The team has always been good and people marvel at their game and how well they play, but not everyone is going to be happy that they are that good some are just jealous and looking for something to attach to ruin their reputation. A GOAT remains a GOAT no matter how envious people turn against them.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

I see what you are saying but we can agree that this is just a suspicion from us the fans, if this is true or before it would be believed, there has to be a real evidence that should show FIFA is secretly supporting some countries and then using referees to help them, in the matches other Argentine players also did some aggressive tackles and I didn't see them get punished for it, so it indeed raises concerns for argument but there's no evidence to prove if there was a deal of favoritism between FIFA and some country but we still more games, so we are definitely going to see how this will end.

[danherbias07]

It happens to most of the big leagues.

Most of the time, this is a biased theory by the fans of the team or the player that they love. But there's really nothing to support it unless the referees themselves admit to cheating, or the management of the said league will tell the whole world that they are a big syndicate that is trying to manipulate the game.

If this happens to Ronaldo, I bet the Messi fans will go out and also tell the same story. The same for the other fans of the star players of different countries that is playing in that league.

[KTChampions]

There are growing suspicions that FIFA might have made some special deals to place certain countries in more preferential groups and asked referees to support them. For instance many have said Messi should have been given a red card for aggressive tackles and many Argentine played also were aggressive but referees didn't touch the. Instead their opponents were given cards just for speaking at times.
~

  Good morning! You've been sleeping for a very long time.
What you wrote is no secret, but it couldn't be otherwise. Think about it: football is a business worth hundreds of tens of billions of dollars, and it's closely tied to politics. What's the likelihood that officials (who are deeply involved in this business, even though they don't do anything useful) won't engage in shady dealings? About zero. Therefore, everything that you listed was, is and will be, tomorrow Messi will retire and a new idol will be created and he will also play by his own special rules.

[Cityhunter34]

Yes, yes and yes.

Its called childs of Fifa. Actually, not just Messi cause Ronaldo are also can get the same priviliage especially for getting a Penalty -lol. These is not the first time topics.

Is already repeated topics for Fifa favourite.

Exactly, that's the real truth about it. Sometimes we need to understand that a player like Messi and Ronaldo are world class, so referees always give them some rest on the pitch, but that doesn't mean they are bigger than the rules. Honestly, this is not a new thing anymore, because they also have the same privilege in their domestic Leagues.

So we shouldn't take it too seriously, because we might likely see more of it before the end of the tournament.

[swogerino]

I think that is how Argentina plays every game a bit rough football, some teams from Latin America including Argentina, Paraguay and Colombia to name a few play somewhat of a rough football, much different from Brazil for example. I don't think FIFA favors anyone and it is up to the teams to fight to their best possibilities to win the games. So far I have not see such thing from the referees and thank God about that because usually the referees are Achille's heel when it comes to soccer and they can damage a lot any event by reckless behavior, luckily so far no such behavior here.

[Ruttoshi]

That's the picture so that, we can understand what OP is talking about.

I don't think that, FIFA would stoop so low to favour a particular country over another because it will be obvious and I haven't seen anything like that yet. Expect what Messi did and we all know that Messi is FIFA son.

However, some referee can do that but don't put it on FIFA head because that's why VAR is there for a review. Argentina has a strong squad that's capable of trashing any team and win the world cup.

[Hatchy]

There are international observers on board to believe this suspicions to be true.
Since when did we also begin to have this mindset that such a top match like the world cup can be so manipulated to favour a particular team? I guess it was just those unpopular leagues we have this kind of thought?
Anyways, some fans would say it is Ronaldo's fans that is having this exaggeration who are not happy for the so far history Messi had made over the 2026 FIFA World Cup while their Goat at Ronaldo had not scored a single goal.
So they want cause unnecessary fight.  

It still possible don't forget that the world cup isn't much different from other matches. Same rules applied the only difference is you play against another country not some clubs. But I don't want to believe an information that's just flying around. Though in most of the matches we saw alot of bias that could have been avoided if they were being fair. But it's still football and there's no need to call for too much attentions. The recent games have been creating alot of favouritism between fans. Everyone picking a side of who their favourite player is on the world cup and it's begining to look terrible with how many people have taken it personal. Every one at their own pace would shine. They all are legends so there's no need to the unnecessary arguments about who is the goat..

[Curious T]

I can't believe people are actually taking these narratives of favoritism seriously. What exactly has happened in the World cup that doesn't happen in the usual club football? Have we not seen calls not being made or calls that are made that should not have been made by the referee? Haven't we even seen cases where referees had to apologize because, after the game, they figured out they made a mistake? There have even been instances where a red card has been overturned after the game, and the player is available for the next game. Nothing that is happening here is something that is new to football. Whichever way the call goes, some fans will be unhappy about it. In this very World Cup, there have been many instances that we can argue are a red card, but only Messi's own fits the agenda, so fans always point to that one.

[Hewlet]

Then there's also the fact that certain countries will be placed at noticeably easier brackets if they pass on the second phase while others will have a notoriously harder path to victory from the start.

Is this still a Ronaldo Vs Messi kind of conversation where we are assuming that FIFA is tying to play favourite to Messi? Regardless the downs of FIFA and the fact that they tend to show an attitude that suggests that they are taking some players and countries as Thier favourite, it's not still possible that such level of favouritism can work from the start of the world cup and run through the end leading to the eventual winning of the world cup by the said nation. So far, not Argentina neither Portugal has hard an easy rout in Thier qualification to the next round. In the next round and going forward, none of them will stop have a very easy route to the finals. Our emotions are there but it's best we don't over stress things to make it look like FIFA is just one cheap organisation that's void of values and checks. I still believe that there's some check and Ballance when it comes to the decision that FIFA makes and in the long run, they will always try to be a neutral body in a major competition as the world cup.