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Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates his goal against Algeria at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Copyright: Imago<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Former Manchester City midfielder Nedum Onuoha has opined that Argentina’s captain, Lionel Messi, should’ve been sent off in his side’s 3-0 win over Algeria earlier today, Soccernet.ng <\/a>reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner scored a hat-trick at the Kansas City Stadium against Vladimir Petkovic’s side. The feat saw him become the oldest player to score a treble in FIFA World Cup history.<\/p>\n Set to turn 39 in a week, Messi’s three goals against Algeria in the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a> Group J opener saw him go level with German legend Miroslave Klose on the Copa Mundial all-time goalscorers list (16), although French gunman Kylian Mbappe is just two behind.<\/p>\n Get Our Sports News First \u2013\u00a0Join Our WhatsApp Channel Now!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The former Manchester City defender played over a century of games for the Cityzens, but has now ventured into punditry.<\/p>\n In the course of Argentina’s game against Algeria, Messi, in an attempt to regain the ball, stomped on Lille’s centre-back A\u00efssa Mandi, with his studs fully out.<\/p>\n However, Polish referee Szymon Marciniak only blew the whistle for a foul, failing to caution the former Barcelona attacker, when many feel he should’ve been sent off.<\/p>\n Messi just got away with an absolutely DISGUSTING challenge to an Algeria defenders leg.<\/p>\n Red card or not?pic.twitter.com\/2ZU2B5j4oH<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Banter FC (@FCBanter_) June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Speaking after the game, Onuoha opined that Messi should’ve been given his marching orders for his ill-attempt at a tackle.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, it probably should’ve been a red card in my opinion,\u201d the 39-year-old said, per ESPN UK<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the moment was missed, because the still images are making it look quite bad, but when the player was on the floor, you can see he had a level of concern towards him because he knew that he did something that could potentially get him in trouble.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the referee probably missed it and I can understand that, but for the video assistant referee to look at it and think it’s fine, no. I think that is worthy of a red card.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the commentary when we watching, they didn’t even say anything happened. They just went \u2018oh, that’s quite bad’ and continued with \u2018it’s good to see Messi pressing’,\u201d the ex-QPR man concluded.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Chinedum \u2018Nedum’ Onuoha was born in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria, before moving to England at a young age, and was conferred British citizenship when he turned seven.<\/p>\n Given his Nigerian upbringing, the defender’s parents placed education as a top priority, even above football, a sentiment echoed by Ola Aina, William Troost-Ekong, Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey on Bassey’s Collective discussion<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n He joined the Manchester City academy when he was ten, although his football didn’t stop him from recording eight grade \u2018A’s and two \u2018B’s in his GCSE.<\/p>\n Having already made his Manchester City debut in 2004 and already played for the England Youth team, a senior Three-Lions call-up never came, and when Nigeria came calling in 2008, he turned them down. He’ll eventually regret that decision.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking back on my career, there are lots of things where I wish I had done something differently, even though at the time it made perfect sense to me,\u201d the ex-Real Salt Lake defender said on Sky Sports\u2019 \u2018In The Mixer\u2019 <\/a>podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cI regret not playing international football. Coming through the City academy and being a supporter of the club, nothing was more important to me than playing for City.<\/p>\n \u201cMancini had just arrived at the club, and then Dedryck Boyata came from the reserves and started playing ahead of me.<\/p>\n \u201cThinking from the football standpoint, I realised going away for six weeks because of AFCON might not put me in a better position at City when I got back.<\/p>\n \u201cIn those times, AFCON wasn\u2019t as big as now. Most African players were not signed because AFCON was in that window.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Across a career that spanned almost 16 years, Onuoha played over 500 professional games and won a Premier League title with Manchester City.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Soccer](\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/thumbor\/-tInILkO7nFFdGWGmLmc6qUQVdI=\/1024x683\/smart\/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.soccernet.ng%2Fmain%2F2025%2F02%2Fimago35273720.jpg\")
Soccer Onuoha explains why Messi should’ve been given a red card<\/h2>\n
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Soccer Why Nedum Onuoha never played for the Super Eagles<\/h2>\n
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