Former Algeria defender Aissa Mandi has revealed that Lionel Messi apologised to him on the pitch straight after the Argentina captain’s controversial challenge in their 2026 World Cup group-stage meeting.
Argentina won the match 3-0, with Messi scoring a hat-trick, but one of the defining moments came in the 31st minute when the forward made a heavy challenge on Mandi’s leg just minutes after opening the scoring.
Refereeing analysts later argued the tackle warranted a red card. However, Polish referee Szymon Marciniak awarded only a free-kick, and the video assistant referee did not intervene – a sequence of decisions that prompted the Algerian Football Federation to lodge an official complaint with FIFA.
Messi ‘came quickly to apologise’
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Speaking on the podcast Kampo, Mandi said Messi immediately recognised he had overstepped the mark.
“Messi was aware he had made a mistake, so he came quickly to apologise to me and to check how I was,” the Levante defender explained.
“In turn, I told the referee that the challenge was strong, and when I got back to my feet I signalled that the incident needed to be checked on VAR.”
Mandi stressed that, in real time, he did not fully grasp the severity of the contact, contrasting the limited view of players on the pitch with that of supporters watching television replays.
Difference between pitch and screen
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“The big difference between the fans watching on TV and us on the pitch,” he said, “is that they see the replay within seconds and can judge how hard the tackle was, whereas we don’t have that advantage.
“I felt pain at the time, but I didn’t realise how serious the challenge was until I went back to the dressing room. The pain got worse, and the people around me told me the incident was worthy of a red card. Then I watched the replay.”
Despite the uproar surrounding the incident, Messi was not sanctioned during the match and remained on the field to complete his treble, sealing a comprehensive victory for Argentina.
World Cup run and Algeria record
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Argentina went on to reach the final of the 2026 World Cup, finishing as runners-up after a 1-0 extra-time defeat by Spain. They played much of that final with 10 men following the dismissal of midfielder Enzo Fernandez.
Spain’s narrow win denied Messi and his teammates a second successive world title, four years after their triumph at Qatar 2022.
Mandi, meanwhile, recently confirmed his retirement from international football with Algeria. The 32-year-old steps away as the Desert Warriors’ all-time record appearance maker, having surpassed every other player in the nation’s history for caps.
The defender’s account of the incident with Messi adds fresh detail to one of the tournament’s most debated refereeing flashpoints, while underlining, in his view, that the Argentina captain immediately accepted responsibility for the challenge on the pitch.
