'Nothing Was Handed to Us': Lionel Messi Responds to World Cup 'Rigged' Claims After Argentina Beat England

Two days before Argentina bid to become back-to-back FIFA World Cup champions, Lionel Messi has broken his silence on mounting accusations that the tournament has been tilted in his side's favour.

His response: five defiant words. 'Nothing was handed to us.'

Argentina booked their place in Sunday's final with a 2-1 semi-final win over England. They came from behind through late goals from Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez — both set up by Messi.

It is a result that has only added fuel to arguments that La Albiceleste have been given special treatment to reach where they are now, and could be favoured to repeat as champions.

Messi begs to disagree. Ahead of Sunday's clash with Spain, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner gave detractors that strong five-word statement.

'Nothing was handed to us,' he said.

The 39-year-old captain believes their path to the final was earned through championship pedigree — nothing more.

'We've been the best over these past four years, either you like it or not, and no matter what anyone says,' Messi said. 'We've established ourselves among the top two teams in the world. That proves that everything we've done is no fluke and that nothing was handed to us.'

Poor Officiating — or Influence?

The arguments made by different groups are understandable. On several occasions, Argentina appeared to be on the brink of losing a match, only to find a way to rise from deficits and end up winning it all.

It cannot be denied that their run has not been shaped solely by what they've shown on the pitch. Officiating has not always been clean, and there are teams who believe they were on the wrong end of questionable decisions.

One instance was the match between Argentina and Switzerland. The game was tied 1-1 at one point, with Dan Ndoye levelling the score.

Then came the controversy: Leandro Paredes was shown a yellow card for a tackle on Breel Embolo. Video replays showed Embolo falling before Paredes made contact with him.

It proved costly for the Swiss. Embolo had already picked up a yellow card earlier in the match and was forced off, leaving Switzerland to defend with only 10 men.

The verdict unsurprisingly drew backlash from the Swiss camp, who felt they had been on the receiving end of an unacceptable decision.

'We were punished because of a rule that in my opinion is completely unacceptable,' Switzerland coach Murat Yakin said. 'It's very painful that we were eliminated that way. I don't think we deserve that today.'

Yakin's complaint is about that single decision — he stops short of suggesting any wider intent behind it.

Egypt's complaint goes further. They voiced similar grievances after falling 3-2 to Argentina in a match marked by contentious refereeing decisions and VAR interventions.

Egypt manager Hossam Hassan filed a formal complaint with FIFA, alleging 'serious refereeing mistakes' and bias toward the defending champions. Unlike Yakin, he went further still — publicly claiming that FIFA and the match officials had deliberately manipulated the game to keep Messi in the tournament.

As of now, FIFA has not publicly responded to that complaint.

Hassan's claim centres specifically on Messi. And it is Messi who set up both of Argentina's goals against England to reach the final — just as he has been instrumental throughout the tournament's most contested matches.

Whether that reflects a player performing at the peak of his powers, or lends weight to Hassan's suspicion, is the question at the heart of his allegation.

It is worth being clear on what each complaint actually claims. Yakin disputes a decision. Hassan alleges intent.

Together, the two form the basis of the 'rigged' claims Messi has now responded to — though only one of them alleges the tournament was shaped on purpose.

Messi and Argentina Focus on the Prize

For now, Messi and Argentina are focused solely on Sunday's final against Spain.

He has called reaching consecutive finals a rare feat in itself. 'Reaching two consecutive World Cup finals is something very few achieve, and this group did it,' he said.

Sunday's final will settle the trophy. Whether it settles the argument over how Argentina got there is another matter entirely.