Revealed: Lionel Messi’s reputation among Brits PLUMMETS to staggering new low after Argentina’s shameful World Cup campaign

Lionel Messi’s popularity among the English has plummeted following Argentina’s embarrassing World Cup antics.

Messi is now rated negatively among almost half of those surveyed by YouGov.

This followed his unfounded behavior in the tournament, which resulted in Argentina losing 1-0 to Spain in the final and starting a fight with the opposition. Enzo Fernandez received a red card in normal time and Leandro Paredes was criticized for attacking Eric Garcia and Gavi after the match.

Even Messi was dragged into pathetic antics in the final, trying to get Marc Cucurella sent off after he briefly put his hand over his mouth.

According to FIFA’s rules for this tournament, if a player covers his mouth with his hand in a conflict situation, he will be sent off. It was the same with Miguel Almiron from Paraguay and Piero Hincapie from Ecuador. However, Cucurella did not appear to speak in a combative manner and neither the referee nor VAR decided to intervene.

Furthermore, throughout the tournament many fans felt that the matches were ‘rigged’ in Argentina’s favor due to the abundance of referees’ decisions in their favour.

His attempt to have Marc Cucurella ejected from the game for a minor infraction was deemed pathetic.

Argentinian players, on the other hand, did not endear themselves to the British public by insisting that the Falkland Islands belonged to them with a series of slogans and banners.

All this had a detrimental effect on Messi’s popularity.

When it came to the World Cup, 55 percent of the public viewed it positively and only nine percent viewed it negatively.

Now only 29 percent see it positively, 44 percent see it negatively.

This means Messi’s net favorability rating among Britons has fallen from +46 to -15, according to YouGov’s poll. In short, people don’t like him very much.

His scoring is much worse than his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo, whose net rating is -2.

And he has certainly lost ground with Daily Mail Sport’s veteran columnist Jeff Powell, whose antics put Messi in his top five players of all time.

To be fair, Messi, who scored eight goals throughout the World Cup, was often a nice and refreshing counterpoint to his more thuggish team-mates.

Messi avoids red card for apparent mark in Argentina’s first match against Algeria

He also got up from the floor to shake Lamine Yamal’s hand after the whistle blew while other teammates were fighting on Sunday. Argentina also turned their backs on the winners during the cup celebrations.

Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 at the end of extra time with the goal scored by Ferran Torres in the 106th minute.

Accusations of referee favoritism against Argentina in the final were quashed when midfielder Enzo Fernandez was sent off in the final minutes of normal time.

However, many found it inexplicable that the goal was disallowed due to a suspected foul by Spaniard Nico Williams on Nicolas Otamendi during the build-up.

This follows questionable decisions in Argentina’s favor throughout the tournament.

Lionel Messi should have been punished for the mark he made in Argentina’s first group game against Algeria, but he was completely off the card.

Messi, who scored a hat-trick in the match, caught Algerian captain Aissa Mandi with nails in her right calf and Achilles tendon in the challenge after the first goal he scored.

Algeria was awarded a free kick by the referee, but the incident was not even reviewed by VAR officials.

Egypt, meanwhile, reacted explosively after a series of crucial decisions went against them in their last 16 match against Argentina.

Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan accused FIFA of rigging the World Cup after their elimination by Argentina.

Switzerland accuse referee Joao Pinheiro of giving ‘every decision’ to Argentina

Lautaro Martinez avoided a yellow card for jumping into the stands after scoring against Switzerland.

Firstly, striker Mostafa Ziko’s goal was disallowed after a VAR review for Marwan Attia’s foul on Lisandro Martinez. This foul occurred 18 seconds ago at the other end of the field. Attia definitely got Martinez; The debate continues as to whether giving nothing is a clear and obvious mistake.

What Egypt was most angry about was advancing towards Argentina’s winning goal. They argue that they should have taken a penalty at the other end of the match.

Mohamed Salah was brought down in the penalty area after Julian Alvarez cut his foot, but VAR did not even check the incident. Argentina went the other end and also scored in stoppage time – but Egypt must admit their defense was shoddy.

Pharaoh’s manager Hossam Hassan suffered a stroke during his post-match interview. ‘We were better, but football is not fair,’ he said.

‘It could be a marketing thing, they might want to have a World Cup with the winner of the last World Cup, they might want Messi to be present (in the tournament).

He later added: ‘Why is there no justice in sport? In football? I don’t want to try to put it nicely here with nice words. We were treated unfairly today. ‘We have been treated unfairly.’

Moreover, Switzerland were agitated after losing to Argentina in the quarter-finals, accusing the referees of being “one-sided” and “against” them.

The biggest controversy of the match was when Breel Donald Embolo was sent off with a second yellow card after diving.

Argentina made constant reference to the Falkland Islands throughout the World Cup

Argentinian midfielder Leandro Paredes was initially shown a yellow card for a foul on Embolo. However, referee Joao Pinheiro was instructed to have the decision reviewed by VAR under a new ‘mistaken identity’ rule.

The review showed that Embolo initiated contact with Paredes, left his right leg behind to make contact with the Argentine, and then rolled to his left. The rule allows the decision to be changed if a player is yellow carded or sent off, but the offense was actually committed by the opponent.

Embolo was the one at fault in the simulation and so he was shown the second yellow card. The striker burst into tears after becoming the first player to break the rule, but it was clear it was the right decision.

Nevertheless, after the match, many members of the Swiss team came forward to voice their complaints.

Granit Xhaka said: ‘It’s painful if you have to lose because of a decision from the referee but it was his decision. It’s hard to accept it after the game because the dressing room was so quiet, it was disappointing. If you are disappointed after the match against the Argentinian team, this is a sign of a great mentality.

‘Rules are rules and we can’t change them but it’s a decision you end the game with. This is my opinion. I don’t know what else he can do, but don’t kill the game. We were very good at the game. ‘I believed we could achieve these things in 11v11, but it is very difficult to find the right words after the match.’

Defender Manuel Akanji said: ‘It gets difficult when the referee is in front of you. Every little thing is called out against us. Every dive and every foul of the Argentines went unpunished. I usually don’t say anything against the referees, but I have never experienced such a one-sided game as today.

‘As soon as the match was over, I thought: I’m proud of our team. What we achieved throughout the whole tournament, especially today… We played against the world champions and they had no chance.

FIFA strongly denies accusations that it rigged the World Cup in Argentina’s favor

‘I don’t remember a single goal opportunity in open play where we were lucky. ‘If the match had continued 11 v 11 it probably would have ended in our favour.’

Teammate Remo Freuler said: ‘We had high hopes and put in a fantastic performance until the red card. This naturally disrupted our flow. I still don’t understand how VAR could intervene in such a situation. FIFA needs to explain this to me.’

Coach Yakin added: ‘After the equalizer it was clear that the momentum was on our side. Unfortunately, this situation was penalized due to referee error. In this case, the referee should not have given a yellow card to the Argentine player.

‘There is no reason for this; The incident wasn’t malicious or rude or anything like that. Then he corrects his own mistake and punishes us. This is incomprehensible and beyond my understanding.

‘The decision surprised me, it had no justification. It’s a shame.’

Finally, Argentina has so far escaped punishment from FIFA, despite its constant chanting for the Falkland Islands.

FIFA’s rules strictly prohibit political chants, slogans and banners in tournament venues. Haiti was forced to remove a small reference to the war of independence from their jerseys just days before the tournament.

After the semi-final against England, Argentine players unfurled a banner reading ‘Las Malvinas son argentinas’ (The Falkland Islands are Argentinians). They could face disciplinary action for this but failed to do so ahead of the final against Spain.

The Argentines even received support from the US government on this issue. White House FIFA task force chairman Andrew Giuliani said: ‘We believe in our First Amendment rights here in the United States.’

Trust in FIFA has long been low and its decision to suspend US striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension so he could play against Belgium following a phone call from Donald Trump did not help rebuild trust.