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‘It’s the Jews’: Once again, an Arab team is eliminated in the World Cup – but Israel is blamed

Hanan Lischinsky Hanan Lischinsky
| Published: July 9, 2026
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Lionel Messi (right, Argentina) celebrates with Julián Álvarez (left, Argentina) after scoring a goal, Atlanta Stadium, US, July 8, 2026. (Photo: Tom Weller/dpa via Reuters)

The Egyptian football team was thrown out of the World Cup on Tuesday in a historically dramatic comeback loss, falling 3-2 to Argentina and its superstar, Lionel Messi.

But, once again, it was Israel and the Jews who were the focus of the Egyptian ire, similar to when Algeria was kicked out of the cup by the Argentines last week.

Even before the game was over, the internet flooded with accusations that the football association FIFA, under the ominous influence of Jewish conspirators, had pressured the referees to rig the game against Egypt and enable Argentina’s comeback after being down 2-0 with just over 10 minutes left to play in regular time.

But the seeds of the meltdown had been there before the game, and the quick proliferation of openly antisemitic conspiracies once again demonstrated the toxic nature and sheer power of conspiracies across the Arab world.

“The entire Arab world is talking about how FIFA, controlled by the Zionists, knocked Egypt out because the coach waved the Palestinian flag after the last game,” Dan Burmawi, the Jordanian-born CEO of the Ideological Defense Institute (IDI), summed up the situation after the game.

“They’re also saying the referee is a Zionist who wanted to help Messi because both the Argentine president and Messi love Israel, and that the West hates Islam and wanted Egypt eliminated because the Egyptian players prostrate after scoring.”

One strain of theories focused on Messi, widely regarded as the greatest player in the history of the sport. He has been playing maybe his best international tourney at the ripe old age of 39 – making conspiracies even more unnecessary to explain the team’s success.

As mentioned, Algerian fans had already accused Messi and Argentina of being in league with the “Jewish” FIFA after their own loss last week.

Curiously, Messi and his former team, FC Barcelona, are among the most beloved players and teams across the Arab world, where the lack of homegrown football talent and the increasing involvement of Arab sponsors in European football have led many fans to channel their football passion toward the big European stars and clubs.

Driving through Arab-majority towns in Israel and Judea and Samaria, it is not uncommon to see posters or flags showing Messi and his former club, Barcelona, or his Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo and his former club, Real Madrid.

However, there has also been a simultaneous strain of conspiracy theories surrounding Messi, which were fueled by pictures from the visit of the practicing Catholic to Israel several years ago.

Pictures showing him with a kippah at the Western Wall or next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been used as “proof” of his Jewish allegiance.

Around a decade ago, Messi received backlash in Egypt after a TV program announced he wanted to donate his shoes to a Cairo charity, with a TV presenter accusing Messi of having “Jewish or Zionist citizenship” due to his visit to Israel.

Earlier this week, the antisemitic Muslim convert and American streamer “Sneako” gave expression to this idea by declaring, “Messi is the Netanyahu of football” on 𝕏, where he has over a million followers.

In a slightly different strain of the “secret Jew” conspiracy, there have now been accusations that the match’s French referee has a Jewish family background.

The same account that made that claim, which is named after antisemitic Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef, also wrote on 𝕏 that “The greatest gain from the Egypt vs. Argentina match crisis is that Egyptian children and the free children of the world who follow soccer with passion and love have learned what Zionism means.”

“This is the generation that will witness and participate in their expulsion from Palestine and their ejection from North and South America, just as they were expelled multiple times from Europe,” the account declared to its over 150k followers.

After the game, emotions among the Egyptian team, fans, and even the coach boiled over.

Coach Hossam Hassan, who posed with a Palestinian flag after his team's victory over Australia last Friday, was later seen spitting in the direction of an Israeli flag hoisted by someone in the crowd. In multiple media interviews, he also accused FIFA of rigging the match, though he stopped short of explicitly blaming Jews.

“In Cairo, after Egypt lost, some fans were happy that Messi won, so a fight broke out and the coffee shop was destroyed. Twelve people ended up in the hospital,” wrote Burmawi.

The streamer “Sneako” was filmed during the game wearing a Palestinian keffiyah and celebrating an Egyptian goal by screaming, “Never kiss the wall” and making a “throat-cutting” gesture. After the loss, he was seen chanting “Messi is worse than Epstein” with a crowd of young, apparently Egyptian boys.

An Egyptian YouTube channel posted a video titled, “Egypt's national team loses to the Zionists, the referee, FIFA, and Argentina—a complete World Cup scandal!”

Burmawi also quoted another online post where an Egyptian man wrote about Messi, “Why wasn’t there a single man on the Egyptian team who thought about taking out this infidel, breaking his leg or hitting him in the head to give him a concussion? If I were playing, I would have f***ed him up and taken the red card. No problem. As long as I took out their strongest infidel player and helped my team win.”

While the theories of Jewish influence over the game are of course utter nonsense, a recent poll found that Argentina is the clear favorite among Israeli soccer fans, leading second-place Brazil with 38% to 24%. The reasons for this are various, but surely also include the political dimension of the country having a strongly pro-Israeli President, Javier Milei.

Noticing the antisemitic backlash against Argentina’s victory, Israelis and Jews have begun hitting back with scathing memes making fun of their Egyptian neighbors.

Many of them referenced the Israeli military victories of the recent past with AI-generated images showing Messi as IDF General Moshe Dayan with his trademark eye patch, or as an IDF soldier at the Western Wall after Israel captured it in 1967.

Educator Ari Lamm offered a partial list of the “Greatest performers against Egypt of all time: 1. God (Plagues, Red Sea) 2. Messi (World Cup),” which many respondents completed with Israel’s military victories in third place.

Entrepreneur Pablo Kleinman made fun of Egypt’s tendency to celebrate losses as victories, joking, “just like the october 6th ‘victory’ spinning their defeat in 1973, the july 7 2026 world cup game against argentina will likely be remembered by egyptians as another ‘glorious victory.’ look for ‘july 7’ streets and landmarks there soon.”

Finally, the official Spanish-language account of Israel’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged the country’s joy over Argentina’s victory, posting footage of celebrations at a public viewing of the match.

“In the streets of Israel, shouts of joy were heard with each Argentine goal. That's how the historic match between Argentina and Egypt was experienced today in Tel Aviv, Israel. Go Argentina!”
Read more: ARGENTINA | EGYPT | FOOTBALL | SOCCER | SPORTS
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