Jude Bellingham furiously hit out at the referee’s ‘shocking’ decisions after England’s World Cup semi-final heartbreak against Argentina, footage has revealed.
The Real Madrid star made a point of confronting Ismail Elfath – Lionel Messi’s favourite referee – to share his grievances after England’s 2-1 loss last week.
Argentina employed roughhouse tactics against England, committing 15 fouls in all, to book their place in the final against Spain, where they lost 1-0.
Leandro Paredes and Enzo Fernandez were seen as particularly dirty in the opening exchanges of the match.
Both teams came into the match with a heightened sense of rivalry after Argentina’s declarations throughout the tournament that the Falkland Islands belong to them.
Fresh footage from the referee’s camera has been released by FIFA and in it, Bellingham is seen saying to the referee: ‘Some shocking ones there, but all the best.’
Jude Bellingham called out the referee for ‘shocking’ decisions after England’s semi-final
He was annoyed at decisions that had gone in Argentina’s favour in their tense encounter
Bellingham, who scored seven goals for the Three Lions at the tournament, later slapped Argentina rival Valentin Barco on the back of the head as scenes turned ugly in Atlanta.
In the build-up to the flashpoint, Spurs captain and Argentina defender Cristian Romero was seen goading Bellingham when the final whistle was blown.
He went over to Barco and slapped him on the back of the head.
The full-back then turned around and pushed Bellingham with tempers flaring. Nicolas Otamendi also came over and gave the England man a shove.
Several Argentinian players attempted to act as peacemakers, but it looked as if Bellingham and Otamendi wanted more head-to-head action – even when they were separated.
During the celebrations, Argentina’s stars held aloft a banner that read: ‘The Malvinas [Falklands] are ours.’
Despite FIFA’s ban on political flags, Tottenham captain Romero, Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez and ex-Spurs midfielder Giovani Lo Celso celebrated with the controversial sign after the final whistle.
Captain and star player Lionel Messi was also seen dancing alongside the banner.
Bellingham was goaded by Argentina star Cristian Romero at the final whistle
The midfielder also clashed with Argentina substitute Valentina Barco after the semi-final
Bellingham appeared to slap new Chelsea man Barco on the back of the head
He was also at loggerheads with defender Nicolas Otamendi as other players tried to stop them
FIFA are already looking into disciplinary action against that, as they are for how Argentina behaved after their final defeat by Spain.
Argentina’s dirty tactics against England, plus the consistent allegations throughout the tournament that things were ‘rigged’ in their favour, have not done Lionel Messi’s popularity any favours on these shores.
Messi is now viewed unfavourably among almost half of the participants surveyed by YouGov.
It comes after Argentina’s baseless behaviour at the tournament, which ended with them losing 1-0 to Spain in the final and starting fights with the opposition. Enzo Fernandez was sent off in normal time and Leandro Paredes was lambasted for attacking Eric Garcia and Gavi after the match.
Even Messi was dragged into their pathetic antics in the final, attempting to get Marc Cucurella sent off for briefly putting his hand over his mouth.
Messi also clashed with Bellingham in the semi-finals, though England fans have to admit that the legend was brilliant towards the end of the match, setting up both of his country’s goals.
All of this has had a deleterious effect on Messi’s popularity.
Coming into the World Cup, he was viewed favourably by 55 per cent of the public and unfavourably by just nine per cent.
Now, he is seen favourably by only 29 per cent and unfavourably by 44 per cent.
That means that, according to YouGov’s poll, Messi’s net favourability rating among Britons has fallen from +46 to -15. In short, people don’t like him very much.
His score is far worse than his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo, whose net rating is -2.
And he certainly lost his stock with Daily Mail Sport’s veteran columnist Jeff Powell, who bunged Messi out of his top five all-time players for his antics.
