A Spanish report mocked a 'conspiracy theory' it described as bizarre, which spread among some Argentine fans on social media in an attempt to explain their national team's loss to Spain in the 2026 World Cup final.

The Spanish team had secured the final match in their favor with a single unanswered goal, thus claiming the world title, in a match where they imposed their overwhelming technical superiority over the Argentine team, although the advantage was not substantially reflected in the scoreline.

According to Mundo Deportivo, a number of users on the platform 'X' circulated, after the match, a video of Lionel Messi speaking with Argentine national team players in the locker room before heading to the pitch for the final, and they considered that the captain's words might have indicated an abnormal situation within the team.

In the video, Messi is seen trying to calm his teammates before the match, saying: 'Come on guys, calm down, the most important thing is to be calm, think only about playing, and forget everything else, think about our fans, and think about playing.'

The newspaper added that some Argentine fans went further, considering that 'the players' calmness and lack of great excitement in those moments might have been evidence that they entered the final match restrained or affected by an unknown factor,' in an attempt to find an off-field explanation for the team's performance against Spain.

Mundo Deportivo mocked these speculations, describing them as a 'crazy conspiracy theory', considering that some voices are trying to find obscure explanations to justify the poor performance and loss to the Spanish team, instead of acknowledging Spain's superiority in the match.

The newspaper pointed out that Messi's words, whose clear aim was to calm the players and urge them to focus before the match, were interpreted differently by some fans, turning into material for a conspiracy theory claiming that Argentine players did not enter the final with full freedom or concentration.

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