Spits crisis between Messi and Sanabria during the Argentina – Paraguay match

The Argentine National Team beat Paraguay 1-0 at the Monumental Stadium in the third game of the third day of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers. Leo Messi, who entered the game in the second half, found out at the end of the game that the former Barcelona player Antonio Sanabria, who currently plays in Turin, spat at him.

The scuffle between Messi and Sanabria in the 85th minute ended with the Paraguayan player spitting on the Argentine’s back. This spit passed close to Leo’s body and Brazilian referee Raphael Claus did not see it.

Paraguayan player Gustavo Gómez told Messi to “calm down” to prevent the incident from getting worse.

MESSI: I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS

Speaking about what happened between him and Sanabria after the match, Messi said: “The truth is that I didn’t see it. In the locker room they told me that one of them spat at me. The truth is, I don’t even know who this guy is. I did not see it. They tell me now. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it because it will be talked about everywhere and it will get worse. It will be known, so it is better to leave it there.” saying.

SANABRIA: I DIDN’T SPIT ON MESSI

Antonio Sanabria, for his part, wanted to downplay his spit at Messi and even denied it:

“I looked at the images. It looks like I spit on him, but no, that has nothing to do with it. She was too far away. Nothing happened with Messi. It seems like I spat at him, but that’s irrelevant, he was too far away. “I completely reject this.” saying.