World Cup final ends in chaos as Argentina star throws punches after Spain win

Punches were thrown at full time of the World Cup final after Spain defeated Argentina thanks to Ferran Torres’ goal in extra time at MetLife Stadium

Spain’s World Cup win over Argentina was marred by unsavoury scenes at the full-time whistle, with punches thrown. Leandro Paredes was sent off following the whistle, while Molina also appeared to throw a punch after the match.

The latter took a swing at Rodri, while Paredes was spotted kicking Eric Garcia to the floor before pushing him back with a hand around his neck when the Barcelona defender attempted to confront him. He was also spotted in an exchange with Gavi.

Chaos reigned as Spain went into jubilant celebrations elsewhere on the pitch.

“Paredes threw two or three haymakers into someone’s face. He went for them,” said Alan Shearer. “There is no place or space for that.

“We know how much it means to them and we know how much it hurts to lose, but there is a way to lose. Too many times we have seen that from Argentina. The reaction after the final whistle is terrible.”

Gary Neville had a simple assessment. “I love the competitiveness of the Argentines but Paredes has been a disgrace the last couple of games,” he said.

Wayne Rooney was not surprised by how Argentina handled the defeat. He said: “Does is surprise you? It doesn’t surprise me, I think we’ve seen this with Argentina before and it’s just not the reaction you want.

“We’ve seen some of the reaction after knocking England out in the last round as well. I think Enzo Fernandez has got what he deserves as well, so it’s disappointing. But that’s just sad. If you lose a game of football, be graceful and get out of there. It’s very poor from them.”

Ex-England goalkeeper Joe Hart added: “Disgusting. There was one man on the pitch who did have class, and that was Lionel Mess – shook hands of every one of those Spanish players.

“The game’s done, they can have absolutely no complaints about what happened today. Disgusting behaviour.

“Rodri, I don’t think, needed to get in their faces, but when you’ve been wound up for 120 minutes, and you felt you’ve been wronged, and you’ve felt the referee’s on your back, and you’ve got that win, referee’s blown his whistle, leave it. And I think Argentina…are you surprised they’ve gone over the line again?”

Micah Richards ensured that the pundits were unanimous in their assessment. He said: “The first yellow card wasn’t until 40 odd minutes in the first-half, but seeing that sort of stuff after the game’s been played and someone’s just been crowned World Cup champions, it’s not good enough.

“It’s quite embarrassing to be honest. Paraedes there, he doesn’t need to do that, he’s better than that.

“And it doesn’t stop there, it keeps going, and going, and going. And we all know what it’s like to lose a game, we can be very frustrated, we understand that. But this is not good enough, it’s not a good look at all.”

The fiery end followed a game where Paredes was lucky to stay on the pitch, despite only entering the field at half-time. The Argentina star was lucky to stay on the field after a number of questionable challenges.

The World Cup runners-up saw Enzo Fernandez sent off in the 93rd minute of the match, leaving them with a one-man disadvantage heading into extra time. A tense tie was eventually separated by Ferran Torres as the European team became world champions for the first time since 2010.

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