Leandro Paredes was sent off after throttling Eric Garcia at the full-time whistle of the 2026 World Cup Final.
Spain prevailed 1-0 against Argentina via a 105th-minute Ferran Torres strike, after playing all of extra-time with 10 men.
Argentina failed to register a single shot attempt in the initial 90 minutes, and were thoroughly outplayed by the victors.
Leandro Paredes throttles Eric Garcia after Argentina lose 1-0 to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final
Paredes became the second Argentinian to be sent off in today’s game after Enzo Fernandez committed an absurd challenge on Pau Cubarsi.
The Argentina international grabbed Garcia by the neck after losing the World Cup final, and many others in the Argentina squad joined in with abhorrent antics.
Joe Hart, working as pundit for BBC, described the event as “disgusting” after Lionel Messi‘s Argentina fell in the final.
Argentina already had the most World Cup Final dismissals in history with Enzo’s red card, enduring two others in 1990.
Those three sending-offs were enough to secure the record, but that total has now extended to four.
Hart said: “Disgusting. There’s one player in that squad who had a bit of class and that’s Lionel Messi, who went around and shook the hands of all the Spanish players.”
Paredes’ antics were stopped briefly by Lionel Scaloni, before he broke free and shoved yet another Spanish player to the ground.
The Argentinians are no strangers to committing harsh challenges, and escaping punishment, as Ian Wright discussed at half-time.
But Paredes’ violence was a different level, leading ITV pundits to also condemn his actions, and much of the Argentina squad’s antics after losing.