Lionel Messi escaped a red card before scoring a World Cup hat-trick

3 min readUpdated: Jun 17, 2026 09:05 PM IST

Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring their opening goal against Algeria in Kansas City; (INSET) Messi's tackle from behind on Aissa Mandi. (Photos: AP, Screengrab via X)

The 32nd minute. Argentina leading 1-0. Messi challenging for the ball, studs catching Algerian captain Aïssa Mandi on the right calf, Mandi going down in pain. Polish referee Szymon Marciniak awarded a foul. No card. VAR did not intervene. Messi apologised. Mandi received treatment and continued.

Messi then scored twice more in the second half, completing his first hat-trick in six World Cup appearances and equalling Miroslav Klose’s all-time tournament record of 16 goals.

The incident overshadowed the result before the night was over.

On ESPN, former Venezuelan international Alejandro Moreno was unequivocal. “It’s a 100 per cent red card for Lionel Messi. It should have been,” he said. “We don’t even have to see the still. If you see the live video, it felt like a bad challenge. Then you see the replay — this is a bad challenge. Why was Marciniak not called over to review it? You’re raking the back of somebody’s calf all the way up from the knee down to the ankle. It should have been a red card. It plays along this narrative that great players get preferential treatment.”

Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha, also on ESPN, said the referee was perhaps entitled to miss it in real time. VAR was not. “When the player was on the floor, you could see Messi had a level of concern because he knew he’d potentially done something that could get him in trouble. I understand why the referee missed it. But for VAR to look at that and say ‘no, that’s all fine’ — I personally think that is worthy of a red card.”

No ha nacido el árbitro que le saque tarjeta roja a Messi en un Mundial. pic.twitter.com/IUnlxvrofI

— Pascal (@beltrandelrio) June 17, 2026

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The detail that fuelled the wider conversation: Marciniak is the same referee who took charge of the 2022 World Cup final, in which Argentina beat France on penalties. Former Egyptian international Mohamed Aboutrika voiced concerns on beIN Sports after the final whistle, according to Foot Africa, questioning how Marciniak had not been called to the monitor. On social media the reaction was swift. “Messi escaping red. No VAR check. Jesus. Just give Argentina the trophy,” one widely shared post read, according to the Daily Mail. “Let’s be honest: if anyone else had committed that foul, they’d have been sent off. The only reason Messi stayed on the pitch is because he’s Messi,” said another, reported by the Daily Star.

The controversy was reported prominently by A Bola, Portugal’s leading sports daily, which first published the Onuoha and Moreno quotes alongside the incident.

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Messi, named Player of the Match, addressed the goals record after the game. “It’s an honor to be there because of what it means. Being alongside Klose, Ronaldo (Nazário) is there too, but I don’t think it means anything, right? Mbappé is there too, since he scored two goals today, but in the end it’s just a statistic,” he told the media. He did not address the tackle.

Argentina face Austria next in Group J on June 22.