On November 22, before the 2026 World Cup qualifying match, Brazilian and Argentinian fans clashed in the stands at the Maracana Stadium. After the unsuccessful recovery, Messi and his teammates went into the locker room, causing the match to be delayed for nearly 30 minutes. After returning, he was criticized by home striker Rodrygo as a coward.

Messi immediately corrected himself, calling his opponent a “kid” and emphasizing that Argentina is the reigning world champion.

Asked about this incident, on RMC Sport channel yesterday, Rothen commented: “The Argentinian players provoked first. The initiator was the number one star in their team, Lionel Messi. Now, He boasts of being the world champion, but Messi achieved that feat thanks to a lot of rest since moving to PSG two years ago.

In this match, Argentina won 1-0 with the only goal of midfielder Nicolas Otamendi. Messi did not leave much of an impression due to being closely followed by the home midfielder pair Marquinhos – Gabriel Magalhaes, before leaving the field in the 78th minute. After the match, Messi explained that he led his teammates into the dressing room to calm the situation, allowing that is the best way for them to keep their mind for the match.

“Messi used to have a nice image, but now it’s changed because his true personality has appeared. Now it’s difficult to touch Messi. Every time he is touched, he uses the same words as Rodrygo: ‘ Hey, I’m the world champion’. The team reflects the image of Argentines. Argentines are always like that, only satisfied when being better than others. They should behave more classily,’ Rothen added .

Rothen has repeatedly criticized Messi. In March, the former France midfielder said that Messi often goes missing in big matches. After that, he assessed that Messi lacked commitment to PSG and did not show determination to fight for the national flag like he did when he was at Barca. Even Rothen once criticized Karim Benzema because his fellow striker praised Messi’s performance in a PSG shirt.

This time, Rothen also believes that Messi does not deserve to win the 2023 Golden Ball. He said: “It is clearly a shame to give that title to Messi. For me, Haaland is worthy. From August 2022 to June /2023, what criteria makes Messi more appreciated than other players? Basically no. If talking about titles, Messi is behind Haaland even when winning the World Cup. Haaland has won everything with Man City And of course, you can’t compare based on the World Cup, because Haaland is Norwegian.