The 32nd minute. Argentina leading 1-0. Messi challenging for the ball, studs catching Algerian captain Aïssa Mandi on the right calf, Mandi going down in pain. Polish referee Szymon Marciniak awarded a foul. No card. VAR did not intervene. Messi apologised. Mandi received treatment and continued.
Messi then scored twice more in the second half, completing his first hat-trick in six World Cup appearances and equalling Miroslav Klose’s all-time tournament record of 16 goals.
The incident overshadowed the result before the night was over.
On ESPN, former Venezuelan international Alejandro Moreno was unequivocal. “It’s a 100 per cent red card for Lionel Messi. It should have been,” he said. “We don’t even have to see the still. If you see the live video, it felt like a bad challenge. Then you see the replay — this is a bad challenge. Why was Marciniak not called over to review it? You’re raking the back of somebody’s calf all the way up from the knee down to the ankle. It should have been a red card. It plays along this narrative that great players get preferential treatment.”
Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha, also on ESPN, said the referee was perhaps entitled to miss it in real time. VAR was not. “When the player was on the floor, you could see Messi had a level of concern because he knew he’d potentially done something that could get him in trouble. I understand why the referee missed it. But for VAR to look at that and say ‘no, that’s all fine’ — I personally think that is worthy of a red card.”