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The excitement of Spain's victory in the 2026 World Cup was overshadowed by a moment of violence and aggression by Leandro Paredes and some of his Argentina national team teammates. What happened? Why did they resort to blows?
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Various angles of the fight that occurred between Spain players Gavi and Eric García and Argentina's Leandro Paredes and Edson Fernández went viral on social media, in addition to the involvement of Nahuel Molina, Rodri, Borja Iglesias, and Lionel Scaloni.
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It all started when Nahuel Molina swiped at Rodri while the Spaniard was celebrating the victory that gave the Red Fury their second cup; this sparked an exchange of words and aggression that led to the intervention of Iglesias and García.
Tensions worsened when Paredes stepped in to defend Molina and ended up pushing Eric García, grabbing him violently by the neck. Immediately after, Paredes went after Gavi, shoving him to the ground and pulling on his vest.
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Amidst the blows, shoving, and verbal abuse, Scaloni intervened to separate the players and calm the scene while other players like Iglesias and Cristian Romero joined the fray.
Following the brawl, Paredes was sent off the field with a red card, even though the match had already concluded.
On social media, users demanded that Molina be barred from returning to Atlético de Madrid, where he has a contract worth nearly 4 million dollars, and that Leandro Paredes be banned from international football.
"Leandro Paredes should be suspended for a long time. He can't deal with the fact that his team put on the worst performance in a World Cup final in history. What a sore loser," "Nahuel Molina deserves to not be welcome in Spain and for Atlético de Madrid to look to sell him as soon as possible. Leandro Paredes, for his part, deserves at least 6 months out of all international competition. What a pair of stupid guys. They were about to tarnish a World Cup final and trigger a bench-clearing brawl because they don't know how to lose," they wrote on X.
Other users accused Leandro of being aggressive and criminal, inciting violence for being a "sore loser" and setting a bad example for the fans: "Leandro Paredes should be banned for life from international football for savagely attacking Spanish players after the final whistle. An indefensible act of thuggery and criminality."
So far, neither FIFA nor the teams have commented on the matter. Sky Sports News reported that the federation is evaluating disciplinary sanctions for the Argentina team due to their players' behavior in the World Cup final.
[Publicidad]