2026 World Cup, Spain vs. Argentina: Goal Disallowed, Referee Vincic at the Center of Controversy
Spain vs. Argentina, a World Cup final marked by over 90 minutes of truly rare scoring opportunities, nearly erupted suddenly in the 5th minute of the first extra-time period. However, a decision by referee Slavko Vincic—and also by the match’s VAR—risks sparking controversy that could linger for a long time. The reason is the goal scored by Nico Williams that was disallowed due to a foul by Mikel Merino that remains to be proven.
After dominating Argentina in terms of play but failing to break the deadlock, Spain created one of the clearest chances of the match when Merino pounced on a ball that Dibu Martinez had struggled to clear. Otamendi had also rushed in for the ball and then fell to the ground upon contact with Merino, who moments later provided Williams with the assist for the potential 1-0 lead. Vincic had no hesitation in ruling the play a foul; any doubts, if any, stem from the decision not to review the play via VAR. It was a decision the Spanish bench did not take well at all and one that immediately sparked protests online.
The decision to assign Vincic to referee this final had already raised some questions among the Argentine camp even before kickoff. The 46-year-old Slovenian from Maribor had officiated the Albiceleste’s shocking 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in their opening match of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the last setback for Scaloni’s national team in a World Cup final tournament before the extraordinary run that led them to the title. A precedent that, in light of what happened in the 5th minute of extra time, now risks taking on even greater significance in the debate that immediately erupted on social media.
It should be noted that German referee Bastian Dankert was assigned to the VAR for this final, assisted by Nicolas Gallo (Colombia) and Khamis Al Marri (Qatar). It is precisely the decision by Dankert and his team not to intervene and call Vincic to review the incident that inevitably finds itself in the hot seat: in a match of this caliber, with the world title on the line, the failure to review a contact that was as dubious as it was decisive seems difficult to justify in the eyes of many observers.
Moreover, the context in which the referee’s decision was made was a match in which Argentina had already exposed all its limitations. During regulation time, Scaloni’s Selección had recorded a statistic as telling as it was unprecedented: 0 total shots, 0 shots on goal. This performance led Daniele Adani to make a categorical assessment live on Rai 1 at exactly the 90th minute: “The game is ugly, and Argentina is making it uglier. They never, ever got back into it.” Even Lionel Messi, in what is likely his final World Cup appearance, struggled enormously to get into the game, touching the ball for the first time only in the 16th minute, when he was fouled by Alex Baena.
Against the backdrop of the match, the question of the scoring leaderboard also remains open. Kylian Mbappé, who was eliminated with France in the third-place match they lost to England, finished his World Cup with 10 goals, taking the lead in the scoring race with a two-goal advantage over Messi. Before leaving the United States, the Real Madrid star told ‘Fox Sports’: “Leo always scores. He’ll definitely score against Spain.” So far, however, the Frenchman’s prediction has gone unfulfilled, with Argentina’s No. 10 unable to make an impact during regulation time and now forced to contend with refereeing decisions that risk heavily influencing the outcome of what could be his final World Cup appearance.
