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Just as he has accustomed fans to an unapologetic playstyle on the pitch, Rodrigo De Paul is often straightforward in his statements. That was no different after the 2026 World Cup. Coming off Argentina’s loss to Spain in the final, the midfielder delivered a blunt message. Much has been said about Argentina, and De Paul has had enough.
“The greatest pain comes from the fact that we couldn’t bring the World Cup back to our country once again, because if anyone deserved to experience that feeling again, it was all of you,” De Paul stated through a post on his Instagram account. “But as the hours go by, we begin to realize that the connection you have with this group goes far beyond the trophy, and that’s something I want to hold on to as I try to get through this moment.
“Today I look at how many people were waiting for us to fall, spending the entire World Cup pushing baseless conspiracy theories just to ease the pain of not being able to experience what every Argentine was living, because our smiles bother them, because the way we are gets under their skin. But all of that only reaffirmed that the passion and love we have for our jersey can overcome anything. This will hurt me for a long time, but today more than ever, I am proud to be Argentine.”
Argentina react to the loss
De Paul has been the latest to post a heartfelt message on social media. Shortly after Lionel Messi admitted the World Cup final loss would be tough to overcome, Lautaro Martinez followed with another post by confessing he would’ve loved to play in the 2026 World Cup final.
De Paul has now joined his teammates in sending a message to the millions of fans not only in Argentina, but all over the world. And he also made something clear to those who are against Argentina while he was at it.
Conspiracies against Argentina
Unfortunately, that’s the sad side of the FIFA World Cup. As the entire world tunes in to watch soccer’s biggest tournament, fake news runs rampant and fans who don’t know any better are taken advantage of. This time around, most of the buzz surrounded an anti-Argentina campaign that was impossible to miss on social media. Episodes like Egypt’s complaint to FIFA after the Round of 16 did little to ease the tension.
Several outlets claimed FIFA wanted Argentina to win, and even Cristiano Ronaldo liked a post blasting FIFA and accusing Argentina of being favored. Clearly, the Argentines heard it all, and since they couldn’t prove the rest of the world wrong, it stings. In more ways than one, the final against Spain felt like Argentina against the world, and they couldn’t get it done.
La Furia Roja were simply too much for La Albiceleste to handle, and untimely injuries and red cards sounded the death knell for Argentina’s back-to-back quest. Still, they left the tournament with their heads held high and no regrets. Just as De Paul admitted how proud he is to be Argentine, the same feeling swells the chests of more than 40 million Argentines.
De Paul’s 2026 World Cup
Final outcome aside, it wasn’t a good World Cup for Rodrigo De Paul, with many pointing to the fact that he left Europe’s elite leagues to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami. Aside from a good second-half cameo against England, there were few highlights for De Paul during the 2026 World Cup, and instead he was one of the most disappointing players in the final.
Known for always saving his best for his country, it simply wasn’t his tournament, and his lackluster performance in midfield, which added to an overall crisis in that area of the pitch, was a big reason why Argentina struggled as much as they did during the World Cup. Because that’s the other side of it: although they reached the final, Argentina was under duress throughout the tournament and looked nothing like the side that dominated in 2022.
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