Argentina failed to defend their FIFA World Cup crown last week as they succumbed 1-0 to Spain in the final in Rutherford. In a wild sequence of events, rage over the defeat has somehow brought the likes of Pedro Pascal and Rosalia under the Argentine media’s scanner.
The final saw Ferran Torres’ extra-time winner earn La Roja a second star and hand La Albiceleste their second runners-up finish in a little over a decade.
The manner of defeat for the South Americans was embarrassing, to say the least. Argentina managed no shots on target, compared to 12 for Spain, and had just 38% possession over the course of 120 minutes.
Unsurprisingly, the thrashing did not go down well with Argentinians in Buenos Aires and beyond.
If the World Cup was replete with accusations of Gianni Infantino and FIFA being biased towards Argentina, the tables seem to have turned since the final defeat.
The South American nation has now launched a mirror crusade highlighting the unprecedented levels of criticism they received from a wide range of quarters throughout the tournament in a phenomenon fittingly labelled ‘Argentinophobia’.
A lot of their angst roots from Enzo Fernandez‘s red card towards the end of regulation time. The midfielder received two yellow cards for borderline offences in quick succession that led to his sending off, making the referees and organization an easy target to begin with.
However, the Argentine media seems to have changed aim of late. With the period of mourning over, they have now decided to persecute the leading voices that rooted against their cause in the land of the Americas.
Leading the charge is journalist and political commentator Jonatan Viale in his show ‘¿La ves?’ on the Todo Noticias news channel.
Incensed with the agenda against Argentina at the World Cup, the 41-year-old scathingly targeted a host of celebrities that made inflammatory remarks against Argentina. He placed 10 of them in a football formation and called them out one by one.
Unsurprisingly, Speed found a place in the team after openly supporting Argentina’s opposition in each one of their matches. A superfan of Cristiano Ronaldo, the influencer continued his running gag of wishing for the failure of the Portuguese’s long-term rival Lionel Messi.
Speed breaks down into tears after Spain Wins FIFA World Cup 2026 defeating Argentina Comprehensively pic.twitter.com/sCmDGP3pQd
— Dr Ahmad Rehan Khan (@AhmadRehanKhan) July 19, 2026
Likewise, fellow streamer Ibai also spent the World Cup mocking Argentina fans. The Spaniard was particularly ecstatic following La Roja’s win in the final and was spotted celebrating with their leading goalscorer at the World Cup, Mikal Oyarzabal.
cómo se llevaba oyarzabal a ibai porfavor sjsjsjsjs les quiero pic.twitter.com/rjsFMFRBUI
— lu🇪🇸 (@wallsllanos) July 21, 2026
Similarly, former adult actor Mia Khalifa was a shoo-in following her online tirades against the Albiceleste on Twitter. The Lebanese-American accused the VAR of favouring the 2022 champions and even visited the final wearing a Lamine Yamal shirt to support Spain.
The Odyssey and Argentina lost in the same week, I’ll never forget this summer
— Mia K. (@miakhalifa) July 20, 2026
In fact, Khalifa’s TikTok video featuring Rosalia’s song La Perla celebrating Argentina’s defeat was shared by the pop star, leading to her inclusion too in Viale’s list. The fact that Rosalia apologized afterwards stating she had not read the caption had no bearing whatsoever.
Another strong purporter of the ‘rigged’ narrative was British news anchor Piers Morgan. The Arsenal fan has been on the agenda ever since Argentina won in Qatar, no doubt playing a part in him landing bombshell exclusive interviews with Ronaldo.
Egypt manager Hossam Hassan also joined the story after Argentina staged a dramatic comeback against them in the Round of 16. Trailing 2-0 until the 79th minute, three quick goals saw the South Americans prevail in the most controversial game of the 2026 World Cup.
“It’s all about money. They want Messi to stay in the tournament… We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice,” Hassan had said after the game.
His comments were echoed by New York’s celebrity mayor Zohran Mamdani, placed at the heart of Viale’s graphic. During one of his speeches, Mamdani opined that Egypt was “robbed” against Argentina.
Mamdani was not the only politician, however, with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also included. The left-wing leader was amongst the dignitaries present for the World Cup final, albeit her mention by right-leaning Viale seems to be borne out of political differences rather than any act against the Argentine team.
The list would have been incomplete without some sprinkling of Hollywood, considering the locale of the World Cup.
Up top was legendary actor Samuel L Jackson, who arguably made the most inflammatory comments of all. The 77-year-old called out black people supporting Argentina in the final, calling the country historically racist.
“Argentina has historically been one of, if not the most racist countries in the world,” he wrote on Instagram.
Joining him was the mislabelled Pedro Pascal of Game of Thrones fame. The actor trended in Argentina shortly after the final because he had liked a post on Instagram depicting black people celebrating La Albiceleste’s loss.
It is safe to say Viale was speaking for a lot of Argentinians with his hilarious callout. However, it will barely soothe the pain of letting a fourth World Cup slip from their grip.
