World Cup final replay, Argentina ban petitions explained: Will FIFA respond?

Are Argentina football fans sore losers? Thousands have demanded FIFA to hold a rematch of the 2026 World Cup final after Spain defeated Argentina to lift the trophy. The football governing body is already investigating the Argentinian team for unsportsmenlike behavior after the match.

However, now fans have called for a replay claiming that the Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic was "corrupt" and their petition has garnered over 82,000 signatures so far.

The author of Change.org’s petition, Gisela Sanchez, wrote, “The recent final between Argentina and Spain was tarnished by the controversial and corrupt performance of the referee who, according to video evidence, was bought to influence the match’s outcome.”

The author asked FIFA to investigate the issue with “seriousness and transparency” and consider replaying the final. It is pertinent to note that FIFA's regulations generally do not allow matches to be replayed because of disputed refereeing decisions, except in extremely limited circumstances.

The petition has garnered significant attention; however, a separate petition calling for exclusion of Argentina from the future editions of the FIFA World Cup has nearly broken a Guinness World Record, after accumulating more than 23 million signatures.

The most signed petition in history is the international Jubilee 2000 campaign, which collected over 24.3 million hand-written signatures from 166 countries to demand the cancellation of unpayable debts for the world's poorest nations.

It remains to be seen if FIFA takes any action on the two petitions.