Mess-y Decision Making - Is Messi being Protected By World Cup Referee's?

A Little Mess – Is Lionel Messi Being Protected?

Watching Lionel Messi create history on Monday night and scoring a brace to take him two clear at the top of the all-time World Cup goal rankings was a historic, ‘where were you when?’ moment that had all of us taking a mental snapshot in a bid to make it last as long as possible.

It was yet another masterclass in attacking efficiency. Granted, he may be running far less than he did 15 years ago, but as soon as he gets the ball, the years roll back uncontrollably, the little wizard whizzing through his greatest hits and era-defining moves every time he receives the ball to feet.

He is INEVITABLE 🐐

18 World Cup goals and counting. 5 goals at this World Cup. Lionel Messi. pic.twitter.com/MpHq8sAOE8

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 22, 2026

However, there is a school of the thought that the iconic ‘little boy from Rosario’ is being over-protected at the 2026 World Cup, the tournament that will likely prove his final one on the world stage.

It may simply be the Ronaldo fans trying to start an agenda while their hero lies on 0 goals for the tournament, and it could simply be that the referees, who are human after all, are simply making wrong decisions; however, there certainly appears to be a shred of truth to these claims – is Messi being protected from the laws of the game to ensure that he plays every possible minute of his World Cup swansong?

Subjective Decision

The most obvious case that Messi is being protected is presented by the lack of a red card, or in fact, any card for his inadvertent but clumsy challenge on Algerian centre-back Aissa Mandi in Argentina’s Group J opener.

Chasing after the ball with vigour, Messi quickly came up behind Mandi and attempted to get around him to poke the ball away. However, miscalculating his foot placement, his studs ended up landing on the centre back's calf rather than the ground, a painful challenge that resulted in the Algerian defender dropping to the floor.

Immediately, social media was awash with claims that the tournament was rigged in Messi and Argentina’s favour, citing that in league football, he would never get away with such a challenge.

That may be so, but if you’ve been watching the World Cup for any period of time, you would have quickly realised that they are refereeing this tournament in a very different fashion to domestic football.

Clearly, the referees have been told to let the game flow, with a host of challenges across every game so far going ignored; when in the Premier League, it would probably be sent upstairs to VAR for a five-minute stoppage.

Let's not keeping talking about that small unintended foul like messi is being favoured cause its ready happened in the tournament, many times and no one is talking about the others. pic.twitter.com/JfA7fX4WaF

— BR.Afriken (@BRAfriken) June 23, 2026

It allows games to get into a proper rhythm rather than being a frustrating stop-start affair, and the officials appear to have taken a similar attitude to the handing out of red cards. Reckless ankle or higher challenges by Achraf Hakimi on Vinicius Jr, Kenny McClean on Josue Casimir, and Andres Cubas on Gio Reyna all escaped sendings off; anywhere else in the world, they would have been given their marching orders. It’s not as if there’s a lack of consistency.

Messi getting away without a card did seem a little unfair, but given the completely inadvertent nature of the contact – Messi had been trying to avoid Mandi completely – it is also understandable why, despite the rather painful contact, the referee’s decided to overlook it.

In our opinion, there certainly wasn’t any preferential treatment going on there.

Soft Foul

The same could be said of the other "controversial" moment concerning Messi, namely, the moments in the build-up to his record-breaking 17th World Cup goal.

Austria midfielder Xaver Schlager was holding off the ball in the midfield, attempting to shield it from the interests of Alexis Mac Allister behind him. No real sense of danger, but you wouldn’t want to lose the ball there, not with Lio Messi waiting to receive it in your own half.

Mac Allister barged in, shoulder to back, and wrapped his leg around the Austria number 4, winning the ball in the process. However, Argentina won possession, Facundo Medina eventually cut a perfect pull-back across the box, and Messi was there to slot it home in trademark fashion.

Austria were fuming, so much so that coach Ralf Rangnick came out after the game claiming ‘double standards' and saying, 'For the first goal, I would’ve asked the fourth official to do what he did before the penalty kick; he should have looked and he would have seen what everyone saw, a foul on (Xaver) Shlager. It was annoying.’

Mcallister clearly fouls the Austrian player that creates that Messi goal

If it was any other team the VAR would've Intervened and turned down the goal. There's genuinely not a single Argentina game without a clear violation from the last 2 World Cups

pic.twitter.com/NNQi2cjShv

— Preeti (@MadridPreeti) June 23, 2026

The thing is, Mac Allister got the ball, rendering any of the contact to Schlager’s back irrelevant – the Austrian simply hadn't protected it well enough and had been robbed of the ball as a consequence.

His knee did get slightly trapped underneath Mac Allister’s on-rushing upper leg, which no doubt would’ve been sore, but it was exactly the sort of challenge that referees have been letting go all tournament – why suddenly change as soon as Messi finds the net and breaks a record?

And how is this protecting Messi? The referee didn’t know that Argentina were going up the other end and would score via Messi’s left foot – how could he? His decision was made in the moment, going off what he saw, and Messi didn’t even flicker across his mind until he netted his record-breaking goal moments later.

Perhaps, if the refereeing standards at the tournament were slightly different, then maybe the Ronaldo fans, or simply the extremely critical, would have a point. Again, if this was the Premier League, these fans would certainly have more of an agenda to push.

But this is the World Cup, and the last thing FIFA, or anyone for that matter, wants is for the tournament to be dominated by VAR scandals, wrong decisions, and hindsight crying out ‘what could have been’.

In our opinion, there is no evidence to suggest that Messi is being protected – both incidents, one of which didn’t even involve him directly, have been deemed accidental, and though the first one has perhaps seen some more understandable clamours for punishment, the second was a fair tackle, clear as day.

There is, of course, plenty of football left to play, and we’re sure that further controversies will rise to the surface, but for now, simply enjoy watching the tournament, and stop looking for things to be unhappy about.