Referee's plea to Lionel Messi to ‘control’ Argentina star during 2026 World Cup final against Spain goes viral; watch

After almost 28 days since the FIFA World Cup 2026 final between Argentina and winners Spain, a video footage went viral on social media which showed referee Slavko Vincic urging Lionel Messi to "control" his teammate Leandro Paredes before a violent fight took place at full-time.

Soon after the final whistle at the MetLife Stadium in New York, chaos descended when Argentina defensive midfielder Paredes lost his cool and attacked Spain's Eric Garcia and Gavi. Ferran Torres' 106th minute goal made all the difference as Spain lifted their second title after 2010.

The footage, from the referee cam of Vincic, showed that the Slovenian pleaded to Messi earlier in the game to control Paredes - considered to be one of football's biggest hot heads currently.

In the video, Vinic can be heard saying “Messi, control Paredes. I don't want to... he has yellow. Control please. Always, always.” Paredes came as a substitute at the half-time and got a yellow card six minutes later.

What did Paredes do after the final?

Tensions were high after the match and Paredes had a hand in elevating them further. While players were mixing it up, Paredes charged in from behind and crashed into Gavi, eliciting further pushing and shoving and an occasional swing. Still, Gavi said Paredes shouldn't receive a ban.

Gavi became involved in the incident after attempting to intervene in a confrontation that involved teammate Eric Garcia. At one point, Paredes was listed as receiving a red card for his postgame actions. That was deleted a short time later. After the match, Paredes was asked about the incident.

"I was just talking to them after the match," Paredes said. "Things got heated with their teammates being aggressive. ... They didn't need to get physical like that. It was childish."

FIFA orders probe against Argentina players

Later, FIFA announced that it had opened proceedings into some Argentina players for their behaviour after losing the World Cup to Spain. Argentina players including Nahuel Molina, Thiago Almada and Paredes, as well as Argentinian official Roberto Ayala, were involved in the incidents, as was Spain's Pablo Martin Paez Gavira.

Disciplinary proceedings were opened with the quintet facing charges from assault to unsporting behaviour. FIFA will also investigate an incident following Argentina's semifinal victory over England in which players held up a banner that read: "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" (The Falklands are Argentine).

FIFA said the proceedings would target potential breaches of the world governing body's articles on using a sports event for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature, team misconduct, discrimination and racist abuse, and order and security at matches.