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VAR intervention rate shows just how much ‘VARgentina’ has benefitted during World Cup
Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi has turned back the clock and is arguably turning in the most impressive World Cup performance in his career during the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.
Entering Argentina’s semifinal matchup against England, Messi has scored eight goals and provided two assists. However, as great as Messi has been, a lot of the conversation around Argentina has surrounded what many have found to be preferential treatment during its games.
After losing 3-2 to Argentina 3-2 in the round of 16, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan did not hold back when discussing what he felt was a match where his country had to overcome not only the great Messi, but the FIFA referees as well.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play,” he told media members. “A penalty was ruled out and a second (incident) that should have been checked for a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR. A second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.
“There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome. Life is unfair. The world is unfair. OK, but why isn’t there any fairness in sports? I’m not convinced by this outcome and by the way things unfolded in this match.”
Even New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani referenced Egypt being treated unfairly in an address to the city.
“VARgentina”
One controversial moment in the match occurred when Egypt had what would’ve been its second goal of the match overturned by a VAR review that left even Fox’s announcers stunned.
Many fans have felt that Argentina has received favorable rulings throughout the entirety of its World Cup run, leading them to dub the squad as “VARgentina.” Now, a delve into the numbers has revealed the truth behind Argentina’s relationship with VAR reviews.
A chart created by NetSI Sport and provided by Northeastern Global News shows “which teams during this year’s World Cup have seen the most favorable VAR outcomes (in blue) and which have seen the least (in red) using a baseline of per 100-fouls committed or won.”
Per the graph, which was provided on July 11th before Argentina’s quarterfinals win over Switzerland, which saw a Swiss player sent off after a VAR review, of all the teams that reached the quarterfinals, only Argentina didn’t have a single foul committed be reviewed by VAR, while also having the most fouls in its favor reviewed by a wide margin.
Still, Brennan Klein, director of the Northeastern NetSI Sport research group, is not going as far as to say that Argentina has received preferential treatment.
“Why are Argentina and Mexico topping this list?” he said. “They are topping this list because the referees missed fouls that the VAR thought should have been fouls. There’s a hop, step and a jump away from: ‘They’re biased against my team or for this team.’”
Still, these findings certainly won’t help quell any fan narratives that FIFA is favoring Argentina.
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