At some point during this World Cup, millions of fans settled on the same strategy: back whoever is playing Argentina. Algeria. Cape Verde. Switzerland. Even England — not exactly neutral favourites — picked up global support last week simply because they were the ones standing in Argentina's way. Sunday's final against Spain will be no different.
This is what Argentina have become: football's most successful pantomime villain. A team so polarising that "anyone but Argentina" functions as a legitimate tournament position for fans who have never even seen a live match of theirs.
It starts with Maradona, and it never really ends
Argentina's football identity was forged in 1986. Maradona, carrying a country still raw from the Falklands War defeat four years earlier, dragged Argentina to the World Cup title almost single-handedly. His two goals against England in the quarterfinals — the handball that became myth, the solo run that became legend — remain the defining images of the sport's most charged national narrative.
English fans haven't forgotten. Argentines haven't either, and they don't want to. After the 2026 semifinal win over England, Argentine players produced a banner reading "Las Malvinas Son Argentinas" — a direct provocation that appears to have breached FIFA's ban on political statements. Whether FIFA acts on it barely matters to the Albiceleste faithful. The point was made.
That defiance is central to how Argentina see themselves. It's also exactly why so many others can't stand them.
Messi changed the face, not the feeling
Lionel Messi brought a different energy to the national side — quieter, more global, less combative in style. His club dominance with Barcelona made him a worldwide icon, though it also made him a magnet for resentment, particularly from the Ronaldo camp that spent fifteen years turning every football conversation into a binary debate.
The years of criticism for failing to deliver at international level only intensified scrutiny. Then came Qatar 2022, and suddenly the Messi-Argentina story had its ending — or rather its peak. Devotion in India and Bangladesh. Shrines in places with no geographic logic connecting them to Buenos Aires. The adulation is genuine, but after four years it's also started to grate on those who feel the sport's entire conversation has been swallowed by it.
Argentina's quarter-final and semifinal odds have been among the tightest in this tournament. That's not just reputation — it reflects a squad that keeps winning when it matters. But it also keeps the polarisation alive. Favourites invite opposition, and Argentina have been favourites for a long time.
The uglier edges
Not all of it is sporting rivalry. Argentina have a documented problem with fan conduct that goes beyond passionate nationalism. The racist chant mocking French players' African heritage — sung by Argentine players themselves in 2024 and later apologised for — lingers as an embarrassment. Social media has amplified other incidents involving disorder and discrimination from sections of their support.
Earlier this tournament, an Argentine TV commentator called Mexicans "detestable" and accused them of envying Argentines "not just in soccer, in everything." Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum publicly called the remarks "outrageous." It wasn't an isolated moment — it fits a broader pattern of Argentine exceptionalism, the deeply held belief that their football culture operates on a higher plane than anyone else's.
In parts of Latin America, that self-image is the primary source of friction. Brazil, Chile, Mexico — the rivalries run deep, built over decades of competition and fuelled by the sense that Argentina expect to win as a default rather than an achievement.
- Chile beat Argentina in back-to-back Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016, both on penalties — a psychological wound that still surfaces in the rivalry
- The "Brasil, decime que se siente" chants at the 2014 World Cup from Argentine supporters became one of the tournament's defining off-pitch moments
- The Messi-Ronaldo divide has globalised Argentina's fanbase, but also hardened opposition to them among those who backed the other side
Argentina will play Spain in Sunday's final. Across the world, a significant portion of neutral viewers will be wearing red — not because they particularly love Spain, but because of who's on the other side. That's the position Argentina occupy. They've earned it, in every sense of the word.
