More than 2.5 million people have signed a petition calling for the Argentina national team to be expelled from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Axar.az reports that the petition was launched after Argentina's 3-2 victory over Egypt in the Round of 16. Argentina came from two goals down, trailing 2-0 with 11 minutes remaining, to secure the win.

After the match, Egypt accused French referee Francois Letexier of biased officiating and FIFA of favoring the reigning world champions, particularly Argentina captain Lionel Messi.

The petition's authors claim that FIFA and referees favor Messi and his team.

"If the winner is already known, what is the point of the rest of the world competing for the trophy? Let's remove Argentina from the World Cup so other teams have a chance," the petition states.

As evidence, the authors cite Argentina's match against Egypt, the fact that La Albiceleste did not face any top-10 FIFA-ranked teams on their way to the semifinals, and the awarding of nine penalties in Argentina's favor across the last three World Cups.