Punches thrown as wild brawl breaks out after final World Cup whistle

Argentina nearly landed as many punches as shots on goal in the World Cup final Sunday. 

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Before Spain could celebrate its 1-0 win over Argentina to capture its first World Cup title since 2010, it had to fight off an enraged Leandro Paredes on the pitch at MetLife Stadium. 

The Argentine player punched Spain defender Eric García after the final whistle kicking off a brief brawl.

The wild moment happened when Paredes charged toward García and forced him hard to the ground by striking him with his open hand toward his throat. 

He also shoved Spain midfielder Gavi after as the larger brawl broke out. 

Eventually, things got under control as cooler heads prevailed, and Spain was able to celebrate its World Cup title. 

Paredes was given a red card, having started the whole incident right in front of assistant referee Tomaž Klančnik and an Argentina coach. 

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BBC soccer analyst Alan Shearer described the whole scene on air as Paredes throwing “two or three haymakers into someone’s face.” 

“He went for them. There is no place or space for that,” Shearer continued. “We know how much it means to them and we know how much it hurts to lose, but there is a way to lose. Too many times we have seen that from Argentina.

“The reaction after the final whistle is terrible.”

The whole incident is likely to grab the attention of FIFA’s disciplinary committee and could cost Paredes a longer suspension than just the mandatory one game ban. 

Argentina struggled for most of the match on Sunday and only registered two shots on target during the entire afternoon.

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It also only registered eight touches in the box compared to the 31 by Spain. 

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The loss denied Argentina the chance to repeat as World Cup champions after winning the tournament in Qatar in 2022. 

Spain dominated Argentina defensively, including keeping superstar Lionel Messi without a shot all match. 

“We have a game plan where the first idea was to keep Messi at bay, but also other players,” Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente said. “We wanted to keep them away from our goal. … and then something very important: the attitude of our players. Today we were convinced that this was our final. We wanted to go all out for this final. To win it.”

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