World Cup 2026: Sanctions Against Argentine Players and the FIFA Disciplinary Code

On 21 August 2026, more than a month after Argentina lost the World Cup final to Spain (1-0 after extra time), FIFA's Disciplinary Committee announced a series of sanctions over the confrontations that followed the match. Paredes, described as the main protagonist of the clashes, received the heaviest individual punishment: ten matches of suspension and a 90,000-dollar fine.

According to the reports read, Paredes physically assaulted Spanish players after the final whistle, throwing Gavi and Eric García to the ground. He is a midfielder currently with Boca Juniors.

Nahuel Molina was suspended for seven matches and fined 90,000 dollars. Thiago Almada, who did not come on against Spain on 19 July, received a one-match ban and a 30,000-dollar fine, as did Spain's Gavi — the only Spanish player sanctioned. Roberto Ayala, a member of Lionel Scaloni's staff, was banned for three matches and fined 30,000 dollars.

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) was fined 321,000 dollars for several breaches of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, including improper conduct of the team, order and safety issues, and discriminatory chants and gestures from some supporters. Argentina must also play its next two home matches at 50% stadium capacity.

Part of the AFA's punishment was suspended for a probationary period: one of the two reduced-capacity matches and 100,000 dollars of the fine are held in abeyance. That same amount must be invested in an anti-discrimination programme.

The parties have ten days to appeal the Disciplinary Committee's decision.

A key feature of these bans is that they follow the players from competition to competition rather than expiring at the end of the tournament. RMC Sport quotes FIFA as stating that, under Article 69, paragraphs 2a and 3 of the Disciplinary Code, the match suspensions are carried over to the concerned national teams' upcoming fixtures.

The chapter of the FIFA Disciplinary Code on carrying over suspensions sets out, competition by competition, which future match a ban is applied to — for national-team fixtures, generally the team's next official match. That is why a ten-match ban imposed after a final continues to bite well into future qualifiers and tournaments.

This case is a clean illustration of two things the Disciplinary Code governs: a graduated scale of match suspensions for on-field and post-match misconduct, and the mechanism that transfers those bans to a team's future matches. Candidates should be able to explain that a suspension is not served in the abstract but is attached to the next relevant official fixture.

It also shows how association-level sanctions combine fines, reduced-capacity matches and suspended (probationary) penalties tied to an approved anti-discrimination plan — a structure the Code explicitly allows for discrimination-related cases.