An online petition calling for Argentina to be banned permanently from the FIFA World Cup has attracted more than 23.3 million signatures from 170 countries, making it one of the most widely supported digital petitions in history.
The “Argentina Out” campaign, launched on the Change.org platform during the 2026 World Cup, was initiated by a group of football supporters who accused FIFA and match officials of showing systemic favouritism towards the Argentine national team and its captain, Lionel Messi.
The petition initially set a target of 5 million signatures but surpassed that figure within days before eventually closing with 23,316,108 signatures, according to its organisers.
Following Argentina’s 1–0 defeat by Spain in the final, the campaign’s landing page carried the message: “FIFA ignored us but Spain delivered. Thank you Spain.”
Spain’s victory ended Argentina’s title defence, while Messi was visibly emotional at the final whistle. Television footage also showed heated exchanges involving players and officials during the post-match proceedings.
The petition accused football’s world governing body of allowing predetermined outcomes and called for Argentina’s exclusion from future World Cup tournaments.
“Why should the rest of the teams play in the tournament if the winner is known in advance? Exclude Argentina from the World Cup and give everyone a fair chance,” the petition stated.
FIFA has previously rejected allegations of bias and maintained that its refereeing and competition procedures are designed to safeguard the integrity of its tournaments. The governing body, however, did not formally respond to the online petition.
Despite the huge number of signatures, the campaign has no apparent formal mechanism through which it could compel FIFA to impose a ban on Argentina.
Argentina remains a FIFA member and is scheduled to participate in future international competitions. The petition, therefore, fell short of its stated objective despite the unprecedented level of online support.
Its final tally of 23,316,108 signatures also left it just short of the record claimed for the most-signed online petition.
The record is attributed to the Jubilee 2000 campaign, an international movement that called for the cancellation of unsustainable sovereign debt owed by some of the world’s poorest countries. The campaign reportedly gathered 24,319,181 signatures from 166 countries before being presented at the United Nations Millennium Summit in New York in December 2000.
The campaign against Argentina gained momentum amid criticism of the South American side during the 2026 World Cup, with rival supporters and some pundits accusing the team of displaying unsporting or “classless” behaviour during several matches.
Some critics also pointed to contentious refereeing decisions in Argentina’s knockout-stage matches as evidence of preferential treatment. However, no official disciplinary finding established that Argentina had received improper assistance from match officials or committed offences warranting a lifetime World Cup ban.
The petition’s closure came as Spain celebrated its victory over Argentina, bringing an end to the campaign’s immediate push for the South American champions to be excluded from the competition.
