Wout Weghorst accuses Messi of being ‘disrespectful’ at World Cup quarterfinal

Wout Weghorst, who scored two late goals in the quarterfinals, said he wanted to shake hands with Messi, but the Argentine player said disrespectful words to him.

Lionel Messi and Wout Weghorst. | Photo Credit: AP & Getty Images

Argentina reached the FIFA World Cup 2022 semifinal with a victory over the Netherlands in the penalty shootout and now eyes are on its fixture with last edition’s runner-up Croatia. But the post-match actions of Argentina players against the Dutch players and coach Louis van Gaal have become a talking point that refused to die down.

Lionel Messi uncharacteristically argued with the referee, mocked the Netherlands players, and then took on van Gaal and on live television said to the Netherlands player Wout Weghorst: ‘What are you looking, fool, go away’.

Coming as a substitute, Weghorst scored two late goals to level the score for the Netherlands in the stoppage time. But Argentina prevailed over the Netherlands 4-3 in the penalties and secured its place in the last four.

“I wanted to shake his hand after the game. I have a lot of respect for him as a football player, but he threw my hand to his side and did not want to talk to me. My Spanish is not very good, but he said disrespectful words and that disappoints me,” Weghorst told the Dutch media.

In the mixed zone again, Messi and Weghorst met and both were separated by Enzo Fernandez, Lautaro Martínez and Kun Aguero.

FIFA has opened a disciplinary case against Argentina for its players’ actions during a contentious World Cup quarterfinal match against the Netherlands.

The football governing body cited “order and security at matches” in its disciplinary code for charging the Argentina football federation.