Should Argentina's Lionel Messi have been sent off for similar challenge which saw USA striker Folarin Balogun see red against Bosnia and Herzegovina?
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Updated 05/07/2026 at 10:22 GMT+1
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ITV referee expert Christina Unkel has explained why she believes the correct decision was made not to dismiss Lionel Messi during Argentina's World Cup group-stage victory over Algeria, although the contrasting outcome that saw Folarin Balogun sent off in the United States' win over Bosnia and Herzegovina has raised fresh questions over the consistency of VAR's application.
Lionel Messi was involved in a challenge with Aissa Mandi earlier in the tournament
Image credit: Getty Images
Shortly after Argentina's routine 3-0 victory, the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) reportedly lodged a formal complaint with FIFA over the officiating during the group-stage encounter.
In the 30th minute, Messi appeared to catch Algeria captain Aissa Mandi on the right calf and Achilles tendon with his studs during a challenge that the FAF believed warranted greater disciplinary action.
Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, widely regarded as one of Europe's leading officials, awarded Algeria a free-kick but did not caution the Argentina captain.
The incident came between Messi's first and second goals before he completed a hat-trick to inspire the reigning world champions to a commanding victory and launch their World Cup campaign in emphatic fashion.
However, after Balogun received a straight red card during the United States' 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina for what many viewed as a similar challenge, criticism over an apparent lack of consistency during the tournament quickly emerged.
Unkel, the former FIFA referee, argued that Brazilian referee Raphael Claus and his Venezuelan VAR, Juan Soto, misapplied the protocol by dismissing the Monaco striker.
Balogun had earlier opened the scoring with his third goal of the tournament, but the 25-year-old must now serve a mandatory one-match suspension, with no avenue for appeal after FIFA upheld the VAR review.
"I'm going to go ahead and start talking about that word intent," Unkel began. "You can't use that word when we're making decisions and determinations whether it's serious foul play or if it's reckless, right? The difference between being red or being yellow card.
"So intent isn't the conversation to be had here because here, at the same time, what we see with the Messi [incident] which is a very similar play, similar kind of a contact."
The United States secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory to reach the last 16, but the result was overshadowed by Balogun's second-half dismissal.
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Messi didn't even receive a yellow card for the challenge
Image credit: Getty Images
The striker was sent off in the 64th minute following a lengthy VAR review after his challenge on Tarik Muharemovic saw his foot catch the defender's ankle while both players competed for the ball.
The intervention ultimately resulted in a straight red card, leaving the tournament co-hosts to play the remainder of the match with 10 men.
"Intent doesn't matter," Unkel continued. "What we're looking for is what are the objectives and also what is the context of the way this is happening.
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"Neither should have been red cards - that's the preferred decision for that. Instead, yellow card and a regular foul is the misconduct for that and the reason is because you got both situations where you're challenging, there's no excessive force, there's no speed and, with the Balogun incident even less because at that point, it's just legs getting tangled up.
"That's why we don't want red cards [in these cases], we want yellow cards."
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USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino also disagreed with the decision to dismiss Balogun, insisting the striker had no intention of harming his opponent and describing the incident as an accidental part of a normal football challenge.
The former Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea boss added that Balogun was disappointed to miss the next match through suspension, but expressed hope that the forward would be available again should the United States progress further in the tournament.
ITV pundit Bradley Wright-Phillips also sympathised with the former Arsenal striker, who will now watch from the sidelines as Pochettino's men face Belgium on Tuesday.
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Folarin Balogun is unavailable for USA's last-16 clash with Belgium
Image credit: Getty Images
"The frustrating thing is you look at both of them and if you watch football played enough, you can see that there's no malice in either of those challenges," said Wright-Phillips.
"You just feel bad for Balogun especially getting sent off there."
Fellow pundit Jobi McAnuff agreed, arguing that Messi's challenge was the more serious of the two.
"Messi's was more of a red than the Balogun one, for sure. Is it because it is Messi, and we want him in a tournament? Again, I just have to go back to the type of challenge.
"There's absolutely no desire there from Balogun, and it always looks so bad in slow motion. When you see it frozen on the screen, and the referees are sometimes shown that on the screen, it looks bad but football isn't played in slow motion.
"It's a physical game. We want it. I think there's been a really good flow to the tournament actually, the referees have let a lot go.
"They're innocuous challenges that, when slowed down, look worse than they are. Listen, neither were reds in my opinion, but it's so frustrating to have one decision for one challenge and a completely different one for another."
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