"Speak to Me Properly": Messi Confronts Official in Heated Touchline Row

Lionel Messi was involved in a tense exchange with referee Joao Pedro Pinheiro during Argentina's World Cup quarter-final win over Switzerland. Cameras caught the Inter Miami forward telling the Portuguese official to show him more respect during a disagreement over a defensive wall.

Argentina eventually won the match 3-1 after extra time, with goals from Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez sealing their place in the semi-finals. Despite the result, the clip of Messi addressing the referee has become the main talking point online since the final whistle.

What sparked the disagreement

The disagreement broke out during a Switzerland free-kick. Messi, standing in the defensive wall, felt Pinheiro was being too forceful while organising the players around him.

According to broadcast lip-readers, Messi told the official:

"Speak to me properly. Don't disrespect me. Speak to me properly; I spoke to you properly."

• Lionel Messi, Argentina forward

Key details

• Final score: Argentina 3-1 Switzerland (after extra time).
• Goalscorers: Julian Alvarez, Lautaro Martinez.
• Referee: Joao Pedro Pinheiro (Portugal), age 38.
• Incident occurred during a Switzerland free-kick setup.

A referee used to the big stage

Pinheiro is considered one of the top referees in European football. He earned his FIFA international badge in 2016 and has since taken charge of matches in the Champions League and the 2025 UEFA Super Cup.

Born in Vila Nova de Famalicao, Pinheiro has experience handling high-pressure fixtures. Even so, managing Messi in a World Cup knockout match presented a different kind of test for the official.

What the laws actually say about the wall

The flashpoint was a piece of routine match management. Under Law 13, opponents must stand at least 9.15 metres (10 yards) from the ball at a free-kick until it is in play, and referees at elite level now step in and mark that distance out themselves rather than trusting the wall to retreat on its own. That puts an official physically among the defending players, issuing instructions, in the seconds before a set piece, which is precisely the situation Messi and Pinheiro found themselves in.

Dissent by word or action is a cautionable offence under Law 12, and referees have discretion over where the line sits between a player making a point and a player showing the official up. Messi was not cautioned for the exchange, and play restarted with the free-kick. If you want the full picture of what earns a card and what does not, our guide to yellow and red cards covers the offences and the accumulation rules.

Switzerland had earned the tie the hard way

Switzerland arrived in the quarter-final after beating Colombia in a penalty shootout, and captain Granit Xhaka had made no secret beforehand that his squad fancied the upset. Several of his teammates said openly that they were relishing the chance to share a pitch with Messi for the first time.

They pushed the holders to extra time before Alvarez and Martinez settled it. For a side that had already spent 120 minutes and a shootout getting there, taking the defending champions past 90 minutes again was closer to Xhaka's stated ambition than the scoreline suggests.

Officiating had already followed Argentina through the tournament

The row was not the first time match officials had become the story during Argentina's run. In the round of 16, FIFA's chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina publicly rejected accusations that officials had favoured Argentina in the 3-2 comeback win over Egypt, defending two contested VAR decisions in the process.

Against that backdrop, a clip of the tournament's most recognisable player telling a referee to speak to him properly was always going to travel further than the incident itself warranted.

What happened next

Argentina came through the semi-final and reached the World Cup final against Spain at MetLife Stadium, a match whose aftermath produced suspensions for four players and a member of Argentina's coaching staff following a brawl at the final whistle.