Two footballing heavyweights faced off on Wednesday, as England locked horns with Argentina in the second semi-final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
As two of the pre-tournament favourites to win the cup went head to head, a tightly contested game with plenty of fireworks was expected, and the events on the field definitely lived up to that billing.
Right from the first whistle, one could spot several interesting duels all over the pitch, and arguably the most fascinating of them all was the one between both teams’ superstar number tens.
Argentina’s icon, Lionel Messi, and England’s midfield dynamo, Jude Bellingham, clashed on numerous instances over the course of the contest, as their respective positions meant that they were often vying for dominance in the centre of the park.
In the first half, cameras captured a heated exchange between the pair. As players from both teams surrounded the referee to argue about a decision, Lionel Messi and Judge Bellingham found themselves locked in debate with each other.
When cameras cut to the two players, Bellingham was spotted mouthing off in Messi’s direction, with the Argentina captain staring back before appearing to nod dismissively with an exaggerated downward pout.
The facial expression showed Messi clearly disagreed with what Bellingham said.
While this incident in itself provides plenty of talking points, several fans could not look past how Messi seemingly pulled off the perfect Robert De Niro imitation with his expressions.
Other fans also followed suit, sharing plenty of GIFs and images of Robert De Niro’s movies where he appeared to be making a similar expression.
Several fans claimed Messi especially resembled DeNiro from his role in 1990’s classic Goodfellas and Heat.
When delving deeper into these comparisons, it is perhaps not surprising to see that both Messi and DeNiro have similar ancestral roots. DeNiro’s grandparents on his paternal side immigrated to the United States from Ferrazzano in the Molise region, which is located in central Italy.
Messi, too, has extensive Italian ancestry on both sides of his family tree. His paternal great-grandfather emigrated from the Marche region of Italy, and his maternal roots also trace back to the same region, which is located to the east of the country, between the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic Sea.
Considering these factors, it is perhaps not surprising to see both superstars plenty of few similarities in terms of nonverbal cues, physical gestures, and behavioural habits, as these things are often dependent on one’s cultural and ethnic background.
In the aftermath of the argument, many fans tried to determine what may have been the reason for such a disagreement between the pair. Talking to reporters in the mixed zone after the game, Bellingham revealed there were no hard feelings between himself and Messi.
“We were talking about a frictional shot, actually there was nothing bad at all, I’m sure everyone will do their job and blow it out of proportion, but for me there was nothing worth mentioning.
I thought there was a mistake that happened before that, so he said to me: I’m talking about the shot that was against me. So I said something to him along the lines of: You’re strong enough to take it, you know what I mean?
But no, it was just a normal conversation. For me, it was an honor to play against Messi, there was no disagreement or problem between us, the loss hurts a lot, but playing in front of him was a privilege.”
Instead of the personal feud that most fans assumed, a major reason for the two players choosing to approach one another could be the fact that Bellingham is one of the few members on the England team that speaks Spanish, as he plays for Real Madrid at club level, and Messi is famous for his lack of proficiency in English.
Though it looked like Messi was left frustrated after the on-field argument with Bellingham, it was Argentina that had the last laugh.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner assisted both goals for his nation to pave the way for a dramatic late comeback and seal qualification to another final, while Bellingham and England were left with the all-too-familiar sinking feeling of heartbreak in the last four of the World Cup.
