FIFA World Cup 2022 was rigged to help Messi, Argentina win - Van Gaal; Van Dijk disagrees

Messi’s Argentina had beaten Van Gaal’s Netherlands in the quarterfinal of the World Cup in a dramatic encounter, which was decided by penalty shootout.

Head coach Louis van Gaal of the Netherlands looks on prior the World Cup, group A match between Senegal and Netherlands. | Photo Credit: Luca Bruno/AP

Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk expressed his disagreement with the statement made by his former international manager Louis van Gaal about how the 2022 FIFA World Cup was rigged in order to help Lionel Messi win it.

“I don’t really want to say much about it. When you see how Argentina gets the goals and how we get the goals, and how some Argentina players overstepped the mark and were not punished, then I think it was a premeditated game,” said Van Gaal to Dutch magazine NOS.

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“It is of course his [Van Gaal] opinion. Everyone is allowed to have an opinion. I do not share the same opinion,” said Van Dijk to NOS, in response.

Argentina had beaten Netherlands in the quarterfinal of the World Cup after a nerve-wracking penalty shootout, with the regulation time ending 2-2. That game would turn out to be Van Gaal’s last with the Dutch side, with the 72-year-old retiring from management after that.

Messi’s Argentina would eventually go on to win the World Cup, beating Croatia in the semifinal and France in the final.