Argentina stars could be banned for NEXT World Cup after Falklands banner and ‘assault’ on Spain players in final

ARGENTINA stars face being BANNED from the next World Cup despite being co-hosts over their Falklands banner and behaviour in the final. Lionel Messi and Co are being probed by Fifa over their antics towards the end of the tournament. Argentina stars could be banned from the 2030 World Cup over their behaviour Credit: Getty Lionel Scaloni’s men came under fire for holding up a Falklands banner after beating England Credit: Shutterstock Editorial The team endured a sour end to the tournament as they were beaten 1-0 by Spain at the MetLife Stadium. But Argentina came under fire in the semi-finals after their 2-1 win over England when a handful of players held up a contoversial sign. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! It read: “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, which translates as “The Falklands are Argentine”. Lionel Scaloni’s men – who had already enraged a number of teams over some favourable decisions throughout the tournament – attracted more negative headlines in the final. Argentina were involved in ugly scenes after the final whistle as they were seen brawling with Spain players. Leandro Paredes was filmed grabbing the throat of Spain defender Eric Garcia while footage showed Nahuel Molina struck Rodri as he ran past during the celebrations. Fifa have the power to issue a global ban for Argentina players who were involved in the banner and violence after opening proceedings. But the team won’t play in another Fifa match until the 2030 World Cup because they are co-hosting the tournament alongside Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Uruguay. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK And players came under fire for starting a brawl with Spain players in the final Credit: Getty That means Argentina won’t play any qualifying matches in the build up. So the next available match for players to be banned could be Argentina’s opening match of the 2030 World Cup. Argentina were fined £20,000 in 2014 after players held a banner with the same text as this tournament’s on before a friendly against Slovenia. Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martinez and Giovani Lo Celso were all seen holding the Falklands banner. Fifa’s statement also accused Argentina of assault against Spain players, name dropping Molina, Paredes, Thiago Almada and coach Robert Ayala. It said: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Argentinian Football Association for potential breaches of article 13 paragraph 2 c) (Using a sports event for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature), article 14 paragraph 5 (Team misconduct), article 15 (Discrimination and racist abuse) and article 17 (Order and security at matches) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code in light of discriminatory chants and gestures, late kick-offs, failure to comply with match and security protocols, the display of inappropriate messages by the team and spectators and the throwing of objects by spectators in relation to several matches of the representative team of Argentina at the FIFA World Cup 2026.“ The world champions were not totally innocent either though, with Barcelona midfielder Gavi also being charged with a charge of unsporting behaviour. The statement continued: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has received the report of the appointed Disciplinary and Ethics Prosecutor concerning incidents that occurred during the FIFA World Cup 2026 final (Spain v. Argentina) and, following the recommendation contained therein, has opened disciplinary proceedings – for potential breaches of article 14 paragraph 1 i) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (assault) – against Argentinian players Nahuel Molina (two counts, one completed and one attempted) and Leandro Paredes (three counts) and Argentinian official Roberto Ayala (one count). “Disciplinary proceedings have also been opened – for potential breaches of article 14 paragraph 1 b) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (unsporting behaviour) – against Argentinian players Nahuel Molina (one count) and Thiago Almada (one count) and Spanish player Pablo Martín Páez Gavira (one count).” Comment now