Rival World Cup petitions divide football fans

The first campaign, launched by Argentine supporter Gisela Sánchez, calls for the July 19 final between Argentina and Spain to be replayed with a different referee. The petition has gathered more than 80,000 signatures.

Its organisers claim that decisions by Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić affected the outcome of the match, which Spain won 1-0 after extra time. However, the petition provides no independently verified evidence of wrongdoing.

A separate campaign titled "Argentina Out" called for the national team to be permanently excluded from future World Cups, accusing FIFA and match officials of favoring Argentina and captain Lionel Messi.

"Why should the rest of the world compete when the winner has already been decided? Kick Argentina out of the World Cup and give everyone else a fair chance," the petition read.

The now-closed campaign collected 23,316,108 signatures from people in 170 countries, making it one of the most widely supported online petitions on record. After Spain's victory, its organisers added: "FIFA ignored us but Spain delivered. Thank you Spain."

Online petitions have no authority over FIFA and cannot compel football's governing body to replay a match or exclude a national team. Such decisions can only be taken through official disciplinary or regulatory procedures.

FIFA has not indicated that either petition will affect Argentina's participation in future competitions or the official result of the World Cup final.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that nearly 63 million people in the United States watched Spain defeat Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final, setting a new national viewership record and highlighting football's growing popularity in the country.