The 2026 FIFA World Cup has already delivered plenty of drama, and the tournament is only halfway through the quarterfinal stage. Pre-tournament favourites Brazil and Portugal have already crashed out, while last edition’s finalists, France and Argentina, remain firmly in the hunt for the title. France have looked dominant throughout and already booked their place in the semifinals. Argentina, meanwhile, have survived major scares in both of their knockout matches, with Lionel Messi once again carrying the defending champions through difficult moments. Their campaign has also been overshadowed by controversy, with several decisions involving VAR and refereeing during the Argentina vs Egypt clash drawing criticism and sparking claims that the reigning champions were favoured. In an exclusive conversation with Hindustan Times Digital, former India footballer Robin Singh, who is part of the Zee5 expert panel for the FIFA World Cup, shared his views on the VAR controversy surrounding Argentina’s victory over Egypt and also reflected on Portugal’s early exit in the Round of 16.
Here are the excerpts from the interview:
The biggest buzz is around the Argentina vs Egypt match. Do you think Egypt were robbed, or are Argentina being favoured?
I think you can’t get favours when you have Messi, who can single-handedly change the game for you, When you get a foul against you, it’s never your fault. I think that’s the universal law as a footballer. Every time you make a foul, it’s never your fault. Whereas, for the Egypt counter-attacking goal that was not given because of the foul and was pulled back, the only question is, why did we check the other side of it as well? That’s where I stand on it. There has to be fairness. I’ve been in games where referees sometimes don’t make the best decisions. At the end of the day, we’re all human and sometimes you’ll make mistakes. But you also have to remember that it’s 11 versus 11, not 12 versus 11. Let the referee do his job and make sure you do your job.
When you have that lead on your side, you have to find a way to see it through. Especially when you score those two goals, you have to stay focused. If you look at the goals they conceded, they gave away three goals in the space of ten minutes. That’s where you need to stay focused as well. When you start dropping deep that early, you’re going to concede. And when you’ve got somebody like Messi, who can pop up with goals, it’s always difficult. He’s too intelligent in and around the box, and we’ve seen that throughout the tournament.
As much as you can go back and say the decisions weren’t given for me, that’s outside your control. I played football by controlling the controllables – my work, my focus and my concentration.
When you throw away a two-goal lead, you also have to look inside and ask yourself, ‘Was I good enough?’ So, for me, the decisions have to be fair, but at the same time, you’ve got to focus on your job and make sure that a two-goal lead is not blown. The deeper you drop into your own half, the easier it becomes for the opposition. I’ve been in games, especially international games, where you’re defending for 70 or 80 minutes and trying to play on the counter. You need to keep your focus.
VAR has been inconsistent in club football too, including the Champions League, yet the scrutiny seems far greater during the World Cup. Why do you think these decisions attract so much more attention here?
When you’re at the World Cup, it’s not just a tournament, it’s a celebration. You have new people watching, new people trying to understand the game and giving their opinions. VAR is part of modern football now. We have to accept that it goes by the book. It’s there to help referees and make the game better. At a tournament like the World Cup, which comes every four years, everybody watches your decisions under a microscope. As I said, if a decision goes against you, it’s always the VAR’s fault. You can’t make everybody happy.
Are we witnessing another peak of Lionel Messi? He seems simply unstoppable at this World Cup at age of 39.
One thing Lionel Scaloni said was that teams have identities. Argentina have built a team around Messi. When you’ve got an ace up your sleeve like Messi, make sure you use him. From Mac Allister to Enzo Fernandez and everybody else, there’s a mutual understanding that Messi can single-handedly change a game. So they play together as a cohesive unit. If you look at the goal, Martinez gave the ball to Enzo Fernandez. So it’s not just about Messi. But, as I keep saying, when you have a Messi, you use him. I also think the 30s are the new 20s. Modern-day football and sports science allow players to extend their careers. We’ve seen Messi do exactly that, and we’ve seen Ronaldo do exactly that. Maybe we won’t see them at the next World Cup, but we’ll still see them playing football.
What went wrong for Portugal this World Cup? They were the favourites with a star-studded midfield and defence.
I feel Roberto Martinez needed to make the right calls. Individually, the team was great. You have Champions League winners, Ballon d’Or winners, the Premier League’s top assist provider, the all-time leading goalscorer, one of the best attacking wing-backs. But when you have those players, you have to make them into a cohesive unit. That’s where maybe he had to make brave calls.
People say Ronaldo shouldn’t have played. Even if he didn’t start, at least give him 60 minutes. Then where was the supply? You move further down to Bruno Fernandes, who had the most assists in the Premier League, where was that? Vitinha and Neves controlled PSG’s midfield, but then you changed things around. Rafael Leao, Joao Felix, Pedro Neto on the bench, you have all these players. As I said about Argentina, you play the hand you’re dealt. Martinez had a lot more cards up his sleeve that he didn’t use. For me, he just didn’t make them work.
What’s your take on the decisions Martinez made while subbing Bruno Fernandes in the second half while Cristiano Ronaldo stayed on?
That was a brave call. Joao Felix and Ronaldo have played together at club level, so sometimes that understanding is better than somebody who’s having a good individual season elsewhere. Individual talent has to translate to the national team and you have to deliver consistently. If you’re not delivering, then be brave enough to take players off. If Ronaldo isn’t performing, take him off. If your winger isn’t performing, take him off.
But if you want to keep Ronaldo on the pitch, then make sure you keep the supply as well. Messi plays as a No. 10. Ronaldo plays as a No. 9. He relies on service. If you go back and look at the number of balls he received, everybody has to take the blame, including Ronaldo. He has to stay inside the box to receive those deliveries. He has to gamble in the box. When you’re leading a side, you have to trust the process. It’s on both sides – the team and Ronaldo.
Considering the way Kylian Mbappe is performing, has he already established himself as one of the greatest World Cup players of all time? “Can anybody stop this French team at this very moment?
I highly doubt. And I say this because now we’ve seen two clean-sheet performances. That shows you the fact that I always say this: goals win you games, clean sheets win you championships. And now when you add them both together, you’re in for trouble. If you stop Mbappe, you’ve got Desire Doue. You stop Desire Doue, you’ve got Barcola. If you stop him, then there is Michael Olise. You stop one, it’s like that monster you cut a head off, four more pop up. And that’s what this team is.
We saw that physicality in the previous game as well, where they just kept smiling. That’s the French nonchalant confidence that you can see, ‘I’m not getting into this. I am better than you.’ And that confidence has taken them really far.
With Didier Deschamps also leaving for personal reasons, now him coming into the spot, it’s just a mutual respect. With him going down to Mbappé when he was coming off… remember, this is a player-manager who’s won the World Cup. That’s the kind of respect everybody has for each other, to your left, to your right, your coach, everybody is on the same path.
Will Mbappe create history?
One hundred per cent. He’s got two or three more World Cups, right? Absolutely. So I think he will set historical records at the World Cup. But I just want to see him perform now. I just want to see him do it now and not slip at the last step again.”
