2026 World Cup: Why Messi should’ve gotten a red card – Midfielder who missed out on Super Eagles call

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 reports.

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.

Set to turn 39 in a week, Messi's three goals against Algeria in the 2026 FIFA World Cup 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.

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Onuoha explains why Messi should've been given a red card

The former Manchester City defender played over a century of games for the Cityzens, but has now ventured into punditry.

In the course of Argentina's game against Algeria, Messi, in an attempt to regain the ball, stomped on Lille's centre-back Aïssa Mandi, with his studs fully out.

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.

Messi just got away with an absolutely DISGUSTING challenge to an Algeria defenders leg.

Red card or not?pic.twitter.com/2ZU2B5j4oH

— Banter FC (@FCBanter_) June 17, 2026

Speaking after the game, Onuoha opined that Messi should've been given his marching orders for his ill-attempt at a tackle.

“Yes, it probably should've been a red card in my opinion,” the 39-year-old said, per ESPN UK.

“I 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.

“I 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.

“In the commentary when we watching, they didn't even say anything happened. They just went ‘oh, that's quite bad' and continued with ‘it's good to see Messi pressing',” the ex-QPR man concluded.

Why Nedum Onuoha never played for the Super Eagles

Chinedum ‘Nedum' 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.

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.

He joined the Manchester City academy when he was ten, although his football didn't stop him from recording eight grade ‘A's and two ‘B's in his GCSE.

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.

“Looking 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,” the ex-Real Salt Lake defender said on Sky Sports’ ‘In The Mixer’ podcast.

“I 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.

“Mancini had just arrived at the club, and then Dedryck Boyata came from the reserves and started playing ahead of me.

“Thinking 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.

“In those times, AFCON wasn’t as big as now. Most African players were not signed because AFCON was in that window.”

Across a career that spanned almost 16 years, Onuoha played over 500 professional games and won a Premier League title with Manchester City.