Paredes Ban: Argentina's Problem Was Never One Night

Three FIFA cases across two World Cups, same country, same midfielder. Why the Paredes ban misses what's actually broken here.

So everyone is arguing about the length of the Paredes ban this morning, and I understand why. Argentina do not have a Leandro Paredes problem. They have a culture problem, and Paredes is just the man who keeps getting caught on camera.

 Television footage showed him grabbing Eric Garcia by the throat and putting him on the floor, then wrestling Gavi to the ground and pushing into his face while holding him by his substitute's bib. 

Slavko Vincic showed him a red card after the final whistle had already gone. 

Alan Shearer said he threw two or three haymakers into someone's face. 

Gary Neville called him a disgrace.

They are both right. 

But three matches, six matches, ten, it will not fix anything, because this was never one man losing his head on one bad night.

We Have Seen This Exact Film Before

Go back to 2022, to the quarter-final against the Netherlands. Paredes booted a ball into the Dutch dugout, sparked a brawl, and somehow stayed on the pitch. 

Shaka Hislop said on air that it was beyond him how the referee allowed it. 

That game finished with a World Cup record 17 players and staff booked, and FIFA opened a disciplinary case against Argentina for disorder.

Then came the final in Qatar. Argentina won it, and FIFA opened another case, this time for "offensive behaviour and violations of the principles of fair play." 

Emiliano Martinez made a lewd gesture with his Golden Glove, then paraded a baby doll with Kylian Mbappe's face on it through Buenos Aires.

So that is three separate FIFA cases across two tournaments, with the same country and, remarkably, the same midfielder at the centre of two of them. 

But at what point does "passion" stop being an explanation and start being a euphemism?

The Bit Nobody Wants To Say

Football forgave all of it in 2022 because Messi was holding the trophy. 

That is the truth, and it is uncomfortable.

When a team wins, the biting and the goading and the ball kicked into a dugout become "winning mentality" and "dark arts" and "they do whatever it takes." Pundits chuckle. 

Compilation videos get millions of views. 

Nobody wants to be the person moaning about conduct while the greatest player alive is crying with a gold trophy in his hands.

But losing strips the excuse away. 

On Sunday there was no trophy to hide behind, just Nahuel Molina appearing to swing at Rodri's stomach as he ran past, footage from the stands appearing to show an assistant coach striking Dani Olmo, and a squad standing with their backs turned during Spain's presentation. 

🚨🥊 Full scenes after final whistle.@MickyJnr__ 🎥 pic.twitter.com/ZXCvAFkHwy

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 20, 2026

Same behaviour. No medal to launder it through. 

And suddenly everyone can see it clearly.

Yes, I Know What You Are Going To Say

Of course this is not unique to Argentina. 

England players have brawled. 

Spain are not saints, and Borja Iglesias went crashing into Paredes during the melee rather than walking away. 

Every country has ugly nights, and anyone claiming otherwise is lying or twelve years old.

And yes, losing a World Cup final hurts in a way most of us cannot imagine. 

These are men who have given four years to one afternoon and watched it end with a substitute's goal.

But that is exactly the point. Everyone loses.

England lost a Euro final at home and did not need officials to separate them from the winners. 

France lost in 2022 in far more agonising fashion, a hat-trick, a shootout, absolute devastation and Mbappe collected his Golden Boot in silence. 

Losing is not the variable here. The response is.

The Paredes Ban FIFA Will Actually Hand Down

Here is my prediction, and I would love to be wrong. 

Paredes gets his suspension, because violent conduct carries a minimum three matches and the footage is too public to ignore. 

It carries over to Argentina's next official fixture. 

Enzo Fernandez serves his standard one. 

The federation gets a fine somewhere in the tens of thousands, which for a national association is not a punishment, it is an administrative fee.

Meanwhile the Molina incident and the alleged Ayala confrontation, both of which went unpunished on the night, quietly disappear into a report nobody publishes. 

Because that is what happened in 2022. Twice.

Football does not have a discipline problem because it lacks rules. 

It has one because the rules arrive as invoices.

So no, I do not care how many matches Paredes gets. 

I care that we have watched this same team do this same thing across two World Cups, and the sport's answer has been a fine and a shrug both times. 

Argentina lost a final on Sunday and lost something bigger afterwards and the greatest player of all time had to stand in the middle of it, in tears, on his last night.

Tell me honestly: does anything actually change this time, or do we do this again in 2030?