{"id":1169589,"date":"2026-08-26T02:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T02:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1169589\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T02:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T02:18:15","slug":"luis-de-la-fuente-slams-scalonis-argentina-after-world-cup-sanctions-confirmed-claiming-spains-players-were-the-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1169589\/","title":{"rendered":"Luis de la Fuente slams Scaloni’s Argentina after World Cup sanctions confirmed, claiming Spain’s ‘players were the victims’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 World Cup<\/strong><\/a> final between Argentina<\/strong> and Spain<\/strong> produced massive global fallout following a chaotic post-match melee after the final whistle. With FIFA confirming official disciplinary sanctions for all parties involved, La Roja head coach Luis de la Fuente<\/strong><\/a> strongly criticized the behavior of Lionel Scaloni\u2019s squad, insisting that Spain\u2019s players were entirely innocent targets during the altercation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Moments after Spain<\/strong><\/a> secured the world title, several altercations broke out as multiple Argentine players and assistant coach Roberto Ayala confronted and physically shoved Spanish players across the pitch. Following a full review by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, the Argentine Football Association was fined $321,000 for systemic misconduct, accompanied by individual player suspensions<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Beyond the organizational fine, midfielder Leandro Paredes<\/strong> received a 10-match suspension, defender Nahuel Molina<\/strong> was handed a seven-match ban, forward Thiago Almada<\/strong> received a one-match suspension, and assistant coach Roberto Ayala<\/strong> was suspended for three matches. The sole Spain<\/strong><\/a> player sanctioned was Gavi<\/strong>, who received a one-match ban alongside a $30,000 fine.<\/p>\n

De la Fuente addresses the disciplinary measures<\/p>\n

Speaking to Spanish national radio network RNE, De la Fuente made his stance clear regarding the incident: \u201cFootball is a fundamental pillar of society, of unity, peace, and harmony<\/strong>. There are other ugly parts which are the ones usually highlighted. They need to be brought to light so that they do not happen again. It is intolerable and unacceptable<\/strong>.\u201c<\/p>\n

When asked about the severe penalties assessed to the Argentine players, particularly the 10-match ban given to Paredes, De la Fuente defended the governing body\u2019s decision. \u201cThere are governing bodies and each one makes the decision it believes it has to make. What cannot happen is projecting that image, in front of over two billion people, of such an ugly ending<\/strong>,\u201d De La Fuente addressed.<\/p>\n

\"Angel<\/p>\n

see also<\/p>\n

Angel Di Maria on FIFA\u2019s punishment to Argentina players for the 2026 World Cup: \u2018It\u2019s exaggerated\u2019<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The Spanish manager concluded by firmly defending his squad while placing full responsibility on the opposition: \u201cBut the most important thing is that our players were the victims. None of them had anything to do with any of those clashes: they were victims and, truly, the ones harmed by all those situations<\/strong>.\u201c<\/p>\n

Scaloni and De la Fuente navigate personal history amid controversy<\/p>\n

Both Lionel Scaloni<\/strong><\/a> and Luis de la Fuente share a longstanding personal connection, having forged a friendship while Scaloni was earning his UEFA coaching badges with De La Fuente serving as one of his instructors<\/strong>. Fate ultimately brought them together on soccer\u2019s grandest stage, though the final whistle produced an outcome neither manager desired.<\/p>\n

De la Fuente confirmed he received personal messages of apology from Scaloni and several Argentine players, reiterating that such scenes must be eradicated for the integrity of the sport. \u201cI have a tremendous relationship with him and he is a friend; he is a person with values and principles, and I know he did not like that behavior<\/strong>,\u201d De la Fuente said regarding Scaloni.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 World Cup final between Argentina and Spain produced massive global fallout following a chaotic post-match melee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1169590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5312],"tags":[10105,2000,299,317319,130809,104,1514],"class_list":["post-1169589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-argentina","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-lionel-scaloni","tag-luis-de-la-fuente","tag-spain","tag-world-cup"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117159417376891251","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1169589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1169590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1169589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1169589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1169589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}