Messi “elbowed” and “strangled” his opponent on the day Argentina suddenly lost

During the recent World Cup 2026 qualifying match between Argentina and Uruguay, Messi lost his cool at the 20th minute mark. Following a collision, defender Mathias Olivera (Uruguay) and his close friend Rodrigo De Paul exchanged heated words. Witnessing this, superstar Lionel Messi quickly intervened and had an impact on Olivera.

During the match, Messi used his elbow to push Olivera before grabbing him by the neck, but it seems that Olivera did not pay attention to Messi’s actions and continued arguing with De Paul. Despite the quick and not too forceful nature of Messi’s actions, he did not receive any penalties from the referee.

Messi swiped his hand towards Olivera with his finger pointing down.

Afterwards, Messi used his hand to make contact with his opponent’s neck.

Returning to the showdown, Argentina encountered several difficulties in their match against Uruguay. They struggled to create many clear-cut chances and ultimately conceded two goals, scored by Ronald Araujo in the 41st minute and Darwin Nunez in the 87th minute. In the end, Argentina shockingly lost 0-2 and saw their unbeaten run of 14 games come to an end.

After the game, Messi refused to comment further on his collision with Olivera. The Argentine captain stated that the whole team would rise up after their recent defeat to prepare for their upcoming match against Brazil next week.

Messi shared that they couldn’t play comfortably in the previous match against Uruguay as they played really well. The game against Brazil holds significant importance, so they need to quickly bounce back.

Messi’s Argentina has ended their 14-game unbeaten streak that started from the World Cup 2022.