Former head coach of the Dutch national football team Louis van Gaal allowed the possibility of falsifying the results of the World Cup 2022 in Qatar in order to let forward Lionel Messi win the trophy.
On December 9, 2022, the national teams of Argentina and the Netherlands met in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. The Albiceleste advanced further according to the results (2-2 in regulation time, 3-4 in the penalty shootout). Besides, during the meeting, the main referee of the match, Spaniard Antonio Mateu, showed the players 16 yellow cards and suspended the defender of the Oranje Denzel Dumfries in extra time. When asked about the World Cup, the former boss told Dutch outlet NOS:
I don't really want to say much about it. When you see how Argentina gets the goals and how we get the goals, and how some Argentina players overstepped the mark and were not punished, then I think it all premeditated game. I mean everything I say. That Messi should become world champion? I think so, yes.
The Argentine national team, led by Lionel Scaloni, won the World Cup trophy after beating France in the final (3-3 in regulation time, 4-2 in penalty shootout). Messi, 36, who became a player of the MLS club Inter Miami, scored seven goals during the tournament (four of them from penalties) and became the best player of the World Cup-2022.