Lionel Messi reacts after ex-teammate spits on him

Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Paraguay took an unsavory turn when an incident of apparent spitting involving a Paraguayan player and Lionel Messi came to light.

The reigning World Cup champions secured a 1-0 victory over Paraguay in Buenos Aires on Thursday, maintaining their perfect record in the qualifiers for the 2026 tournament.

Lionel Messi, who had been sidelined due to injury while playing for his club side Inter Miami, made a second-half appearance in the match, with Argentina already leading 1-0 courtesy of a goal by Nicolas Otamendi in the third minute.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner took on the captain’s role and became a central figure in the game, hitting the post on two occasions as Argentina secured a crucial victory under the guidance of manager Lionel Scaloni.

This win continues Argentina’s impressive record, having lost only once in their last 50 matches, which was against Saudi Arabia in the previous year’s World Cup.

Furthermore, since their defeat to Brazil in the 2019 Copa America semifinals, they have outscored their opponents 108 to 25.

However, the match took a darker turn during Messi’s half-hour appearance when Paraguay’s Antonio Sanabria appeared to spit in the direction of the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star.

In response to the incident, Messi issued a pointed comment after the game, stating,

“They told me that someone spat at me in the locker room, I didn’t see it. The truth is that I don’t even know who this boy is. I don’t want to give him any importance either because he’ll talk about it and become known.”

Ironically, while Messi seemed unfamiliar with Antonio Sanabria, the Paraguayan player spent four years in Barcelona’s youth academy from 2009 to 2013.

In 2012, he even had the opportunity to train with the first team under manager Tito Vilanova, likely alongside Messi.