Lionel Messi stood and watched as his teammate Leandro Paredes had a physical altercation with Spain players after the FIFA World Cup final. The 39-year-old did not get involved in the kerfuffle and stayed away.

Soon after the full-time whistle at the FIFA World Cup final, Nahuel Molina was caught throwing a punch on Rodri's stomach after the Spain star celebrated in his face. The Argentina star had a coming together with the Manchester City star, and that led to more incidents on the pitch.

Eric Garcia tried to separate the two, but Leandro Paredes was not happy about it. He shoved the Spanish defender, which led to further issues as Gavi got in the middle and was pushed to the ground.

While all this was happening in the middle, Lionel Messi stood and watched from near the penalty box. He was standing right out, but chose not to get into the middle as the two sets of players charged at each other, and the coaches tried to separate them.

Lionel Scaloni spoke about the incident after the match, urging his players to control themselves after losses. He wants them to set an example on the pitch and said:

Spain won the FIFA World Cup 2026, with Ferran Torres scoring the lone goal of the match in the 106th minute of the game. Lionel Messi & co failed to get a shot away until the 117th minute, and Unai Simón finished with his seventh clean sheet in eight games.

Lionel Messi had a stunning FIFA World Cup and was the main reason Argentina reached the final. The defending champions were bailed out by the 39-year-old from the first game, and he scored all five goals in their opening two matches.

He also assisted the first goal in the comeback win over Egypt, then scored the equaliser. He also assisted two goals in the 2-1 win over England in the semifinal, when they were trailing 1-0 with five minutes left.

Lionel Messi finished with eight goals and four assists in the FIFA World Cup.

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