Latin America Has a Complicated Relationship With Argentina and the World Cup Is Making That Very Clear

Latin America Has a Complicated Relationship With Argentina and the World Cup Is Making That Very Clear
Credit: By jmmuguerza (right) By Tasnim News Agency (left)

Editor’s note: Before you dive into this article, please keep in mind that we support ALL Latinos. Argentina and Colombia, we are rooting for you!

Six of the eight quarterfinalists at the 2026 World Cup are already confirmed, five of them European and one African, and South America has two matches left on Tuesday to secure its representation in the final stretch of the tournament. Argentina faces Egypt in Atlanta at 12:00 p.m. ET and Colombia takes on Switzerland in Vancouver at 4:00 p.m. ET, with both results carrying enormous weight for a continent that has watched the rest of the draw fill up with teams from the other side of the Atlantic.

The stakes are clear enough on paper. According to El Colombiano, if both South American nations advance, they will meet the following Sunday in Kansas City, guaranteeing a South American presence in the semifinals. But across Latin America, the two matches are being watched with very different levels of enthusiasm for each team, and the reasons for that divide go considerably deeper than fútbol.

Why Much of Latin America Is Leaning Toward Colombia

Argentina enters this round as the defending world champion with Lionel Messi leading the tournament’s scoring chart with seven goals, tied with Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. The case for supporting them is obvious. For a portion of the Latin American public, however, the case is complicated by a cultural tension that goes years deep.

Comments made by Argentine figures in the past claiming that Argentines consider themselves European rather than Latin American have never been forgotten across the continent, and they have informed a persistent perception that Argentina carries a sense of superiority toward its regional neighbors that sits uncomfortably alongside calls for pan-Latin American solidarity. That perception, reinforced by a reputation for arrogance that Argentine fans have done little to dispel, has led many Latino fans to root for Colombia this week, even those whose countries have no direct stake in either match.

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None of that diminishes Messi. He is 39 years old, playing in his sixth World Cup, and remains one of the most irreducible forces the sport has ever produced. Anyone who has watched him at this tournament knows that writing Argentina off because of cultural grievances is a different exercise from actually stopping him on the pitch. Both things can be true simultaneously: the frustration that some feel toward Argentina as a cultural entity and the awe that Messi continues to command from anyone who understands the game.

Argentina’s Problem When the Number 10 Is Not Enough

Argentina’s dependency on Messi has been the defining feature of their tournament, and it is a vulnerability that coach Lionel Scaloni has yet to resolve. When the ball moves through Messi, Argentina is a different team entirely. When it does not, the Albiceleste plays a static and predictable brand of fútbol that bears little resemblance to the fluid, dynamic side that won the title in Qatar 2022.

The round of 16 offered a warning. Argentina needed extra time to defeat Cape Verde 3-2, a result that illustrated the danger of relying on a single player to generate everything at the age of 39. Lautaro Martínez has scored once in the tournament, from a penalty, and Julián Álvarez has yet to open his account, reportedly distracted by an unresolved situation regarding his club future. Scaloni needs both strikers to find form if Argentina is going to lift the trophy again on July 19th, and Egypt, while manageable on paper, demonstrated against other opponents that the old fútbol saying about there being no small enemies remains as true as it ever was.

Colombia’s Strength and the Goal Problem That Worries Everyone

Colombia arrives in Vancouver as one of the most consistent teams in the tournament, unbeaten across four matches with three victories and a draw. Néstor Lorenzo’s side has been organized, disciplined and difficult to break down, and they are playing with the kind of structural solidity that tends to travel well into the knockout rounds.

The concern is goals. Colombia has scored five times in four matches, a figure that feels insufficient given the quality available in attack and that has made their supporters increasingly nervous about what happens when they face a team capable of making them pay for inefficiency in front of goal.

With Jhon Córdoba sidelined by injury, the expectation falls on Luis Suárez and Luis Díaz to carry the attacking burden. Suárez arrived at this tournament having scored 28 goals and provided 9 assists in 53 matches for Sporting de Lisboa, numbers that generated enormous anticipation, but he has yet to produce the performances that those figures suggested were coming. Díaz scored in Colombia’s opening win against Uzbekistan but has been quieter since, a considerable drop from the 26 goals he scored with Bayern Munich in the previous club season. Switzerland, for their part, have not reached the quarterfinals since hosting the tournament in 1954, giving both sides historical motivation to end that particular drought.

The Broader Picture as the Tournament Enters Its Final Stages

The elimination of all three host nations, the United States, Mexico and Canada, has reshaped the tournament’s dynamics considerably. The quarterfinals as currently drawn pit Belgium against Spain in Los Angeles on Friday, France against Morocco in Foxborough on Thursday and Norway against England in Miami on Saturday. Belgium eliminated the United States 4-1 in the round of 16, while Spain sent Cristiano Ronaldo out of what will almost certainly be his final World Cup by defeating Portugal with a goal from Mikel Merino in stoppage time.

Tuesday belongs to South America. Argentina and Colombia will each attempt to keep the continent alive in a tournament that has been dominated by European sides, and the result of both matches will determine whether Kansas City hosts a South American derby on Sunday or whether the continent watches the rest of the competition from the outside.

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