A petition to permanently ban Argentina from the World Cup is set to break records

An online petition demanding Argentina’s permanent exclusion from the FIFA World Cup amassed a remarkable 23,316,108 digital signatures from approximately 170 countries, making it one of the largest such campaigns ever recorded.

The petition, titled “Argentina Out,” emerged during the 2026 tournament amid mounting accusations that match officials had shown systematic bias towards Lionel Messi’s side. 

Its description stated: “Why should the rest of the world compete when the winner has already been decided? Kick Argentina out of the World Cup and give everyone else a fair chance.”

The campaign’s explosive growth was fueled by a string of disputed refereeing decisions throughout Argentina’s run, particularly during their round-of-16 match against Egypt, which prompted bias allegations from the Egyptian camp.

FIFA has confirmed that Argentina will face an investigation regarding altercations with Spain players, with players like Nahuel Molina, Leandro Paredes and Thiago Almada appearing to be involved, as well as assistant coach Roberto Ayala.

Molina appeared to throw a punch at Spain’s captain Rodri as he ran past him, while Paredes clashed with Spain’s Eric Garcia. Faced with these scenes, FIFA’s disciplinary committee has appointed an ethics prosecutor to assess what happened.

The actions of the Argentinian team could be judged as “violating the basic rules of decent conduct” and “behaving in a way that brings the sport of football and/or Fifa into disrepute”.

The petition description accuses FIFA and the referees of being “biased toward Lionel Messi and Argentina.” “Over 23 million people from 170 countries signed this petition in under a week,” states the viral Argentina Out petition. “FIFA ignored us but Spain delivered. Thank you Spain.”

It is highly unlikely that this will result in Argentina being banned from the World Cup, but it does show the level of disgust much of the world feels towards Argentina, their antics, and the perceived favoritism that referees have shown towards them.