{"id":11082,"date":"2026-07-20T02:23:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T21:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=11082"},"modified":"2026-07-20T02:23:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T21:23:28","slug":"was-it-a-red-card-declan-rices-gesture-toward-messi-and-argentina-sparks-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=11082","title":{"rendered":"Was it a red card? Declan Rice&#8217;s gesture toward Messi and Argentina sparks controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Links P\u00e1rrafos\" class=\"ue-c-article__paragraph paragraph ue-c-article--first-letter-highlighted\">The <strong>2026 World Cup semifinal between Argentina and England<\/strong> produced several memorable moments, but one of the most <strong>talked-about<\/strong> after the final whistle had nothing to do with a goal, a decisive play, or their historic rivalry.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Links P\u00e1rrafos\" class=\"ue-c-article__paragraph paragraph\">Hours after Argentina secured its spot in the 2026 World Cup final with a 2-1 victory over Thomas Tuchel\u2019s team, a <strong>gesture by Declan Rice <\/strong>came to light\u2014one he repeated three times and that could have resulted in a<strong> red card. <\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"ue-c-article__subheadline\">Rice&#8217;s gesture toward Messi and Argentina sparks controversy<\/h2>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Links P\u00e1rrafos\" class=\"ue-c-article__paragraph paragraph\">Amid the match, there were several instances where tempers flared, leading to shoving and <strong>verbal exchanges.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"ue-c-article__media ue-c-article__media--video  video-player\"><figcaption class=\"ue-c-article__media-caption\" itemprop=\"description\">\n<p><span class=\"ue-c-article__media-description\">England vs. Argentina fans clash outside stadium as police rush in to restore order<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Links P\u00e1rrafos\" class=\"ue-c-article__paragraph paragraph\">In one of those instances, while the score was still tied at 0-0, the Arsenal midfielder was caught on camera three times <strong>covering his mouth while speaking with Lionel Messi, Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez, and Alexis Mac Allister<\/strong>, respectively (via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.mx\/2026\/07\/16\/3-veces-declan-rice-pudo-ser-expulsado-por-taparse-la-boca-y-decirle-algo-a-jugadores-de-argentina\/\">Fox Sports<\/a>)\u2014an action that, under the new rules implemented by FIFA, could have resulted in a<strong> red card.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Links P\u00e1rrafos\" class=\"ue-c-article__paragraph paragraph\">The new \u201c<em>Prestianni Rule<\/em>\u201d mandates a direct red card for any player who deliberately <strong>covers their mouth, face, or hides behind their jersey<\/strong> while addressing an opponent, with the aim of preventing discriminatory, racist, or unsportsmanlike insults from going unpunished by hiding them from the cameras and the officiating crew.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Links P\u00e1rrafos\" class=\"ue-c-article__paragraph paragraph\">According to this rule, Rice could have been sent off <strong>three times<\/strong>. However, the English midfielder was never penalized because <strong>none of the Argentine players<\/strong>\u2014including Lionel Messi\u2014<strong>complained <\/strong>about the incident to the referee, Ismail Elfath, or requested a VAR review. At the same time, <strong>Elfath himself was trying to restore order<\/strong> around him, so he likely didn&#8217;t see any need to review the play, since it <strong>wasn&#8217;t a scuffle<\/strong> between Messi and Rice.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Links P\u00e1rrafos\" class=\"ue-c-article__paragraph paragraph\">Ultimately, Rice remained on the field and played the entire match, which ended in a victory for Argentina thanks to<strong> goals by Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez and Lautaro Mart<\/strong>\u00ednez, both assisted by Messi. The team coached by Lionel Scaloni thus advanced to <strong>another World Cup final<\/strong>, where it will face <strong>Spain.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Links P\u00e1rrafos\" class=\"ue-c-article__paragraph paragraph\">The match will be played this <strong>Sunday, July 19, at the New York\/New Jersey Stadium at 3:00 PM ET<\/strong>, where the World Cup could change hands or crown a two-time champion.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"ue-c-article__subheadline\">Origin of the Prestianni Rule<\/h2>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Links P\u00e1rrafos\" class=\"ue-c-article__paragraph paragraph\">The rule was established following the controversial UEFA Champions League match between Benfica and Real Madrid, in which Real Madrid\u2019s Brazilian player, <strong>Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior, accused Argentine forward Gianluca Prestianni of uttering discriminatory insults<\/strong> while covering his mouth with his jersey.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Links P\u00e1rrafos\" class=\"ue-c-article__paragraph paragraph\">Since the insult could not be clearly verified, UEFA launched an ex officio investigation and ultimately <strong>sanctioned Prestianni with a six-game suspension<\/strong> for homophobic conduct.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Links P\u00e1rrafos\" class=\"ue-c-article__paragraph paragraph\">Following the incident, <strong>FIFA adopted this new regulation<\/strong>, under which <strong>Miguel Almir\u00f3n of Paraguay and Piero Hincapi\u00e9 of Ecuador<\/strong> became the <strong>first players<\/strong> in World Cup history to be <strong>sent off<\/strong> under this rule in their matches against Turkey and Mexico, respectively.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 World Cup semifinal between Argentina and England produced several memorable moments, but one of the most talked-about after the final whistle had nothing to do with a goal, a decisive play, or their historic rivalry. Hours after Argentina secured its spot in the 2026 World Cup final with a 2-1 victory over Thomas&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e00-xlk-ue-marca-en.uecdn.es\/files\/article_main_microformat\/uploads\/2026\/07\/16\/6a5944d5d2962.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}