Argentina was far from gracious in defeat following Sunday afternoon’s 1-0 loss to Spain in the World Cup final as players fought Spanish players on the field and totally skipped their media obligations, but one Argentinian newspaper has a very different perspective on their post-match antics.
Despite some heavily criticized post-match behavior from Argentina, one Argentinian newspaper bizarrely praised the team for being “polite and respectful” in their loss to Spain, which does not seem to match reality.
Argentina’s Post-Match Antics
Argentina began showing poor sportsmanship within seconds of the final whistle as Argentina’s Leandro Paredes appeared to physically attack Spain’s Gavi, as videos show him confronting Gavi, wrestling him to the ground, and shoving him in the face as other Argentina players joined.
🚨🥊 Full scenes after final whistle.@MickyJnr__ 🎥 pic.twitter.com/ZXCvAFkHwy
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 20, 2026
This incident obviously sparked a lot of criticism from the soccer community.
While Argentina did manage to get through the trophy presentation without much controversy, they sparked widespread outrage once again when not a single Argentina player was willing to speak to the media after the match.
Players are contractually required to speak to the media following the match regardless of the outcome. While not every player has to speak to the media, FIFA mandates that each team must designate some players to be made available in the media mixed zone. But that did not happen on Sunday as the players skipped their responsibilities completely and simply left on the team bus.
⚽️ 🇦🇷 Entire Argentina team skipped the mandatory mixed zone interview area after the match, not a single player addressed the media. Here they are walking away to bus. @HeraldSports @MiamiHerald #WorldCup #Argentina pic.twitter.com/R6sKWBcj3Z
— Michelle Kaufman (@kaufsports) July 20, 2026
This sparked more criticism directed at Argentina.
“Weak,” Fox soccer analyst Alexi Lalas wrote.
“They really didn’t show themselves in a positive light today both on and off the field,” prominent soccer commentator Taylor Twellman wrote in a post on X.
“Stay classy, Argentina!” Kevin Baxter of the LA Times wrote in a post.
‘Polite and Respectful’
Needless to say, while it was a disappointing performance for Argentina on the field on Sunday, it was an even more embarrassing performance off it. But don’t tell that to the Argentinian media.
Following the loss and all the antics that followed it, one Argentinian newspaper published a column praising the team for being “polite and respectful” in defeat.
“As never before, the Argentine team displayed, both on and off the field, a range of values that are rare these days. From the pitch and beyond, they gave several lessons and showed the face of a country that we would like to see away from the football pitch,” the paper wrote, as translated to English from Spanish.
“A team that was polite and respectful, despite a few unfortunate isolated incidents in the last match; that didn’t speak ill of its rivals or try to justify its own mistakes by blaming others.”
That certainly is not the takeaway from the rest of the world.
About Dave Kelsey
Contributing author to The Comeback.