The referee who officiated the 2026 World Cup final, Slavko Vinčić, has just announced his retirement, and the news stirred up something many Argentine fans had been holding onto for a long time.
For many Argentines, football has just won: a referee who cost Lionel Messi his second World Cup is retiring. The same match in which he sent off Enzo Fernández at a key moment.
As soon as the retirement became known, social media filled with ironic comments: “he is the only referee who officiated Argentina fairly”, one user wrote, and the phrase was repeated again and again.