Protested by Messi, the referee in the Argentina vs. Netherlands game was fired from the 2022 World Cup.

Lionel Messi's protest against the referee in the Argentina vs. Netherlands match during the Round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup bore fruit. The judge has been sent home from Qatar.

Based on reports from a number of media outlets, on Monday (12/12/2022), the referee named Antonio Mateu Lahoz will no longer oversee matches at the World Cup. "Mateu Lahoz has been sent home and will no longer be a referee at the World Cup," wrote the Sportbible account. 

Many controversial decisions were made by the Spanish referee in the Argentina vs. Netherlands match. Many yellow cards appeared at the Lusail Stadium, Lusail, on Saturday (10/12/2022). In that match, Lahoz issued 15 yellow cards from his pocket. Apart from that, some of his decisions were considered detrimental to Argentina, even though in the end they won on penalties. Messi also criticized Lahoz's performance. 

He even asked FIFA to immediately investigate the decisions he made. "I don't want to talk about the referee because I can't be honest." "Because  if I tell the truth, punishment will befall me," Messi said after the match. "FIFA has to think about it; FIFA cannot have a referee like that." FIFA will not place a referee who is unable to perform his duties."We were scared before the game because we knew what he was like." Criticism was also conveyed by the Argentine goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez. He was also taken aback by the 10-minute time extension decision.As a result, the Tango team conceded.

"Referees give the Netherlands a lot of advantages." "He gave up 10 minutes of injury time for no reason," he said. "The referee gave a free kick right outside the penalty box to the Netherlands two or three times," continued Emiliano.