Switzerland fans send warning to England ahead of semi-final against Argentina
Some fans think Argentina are getting preferential treatment at the World Cup.
The conspiracy theory comes after the winners of the 2022 World Cup have been at the centre of two big refereeing decisions.
During Argentina's round of 16 game on 7 July, Egypt were leading 1-0 when they netted a second goal that would have put them firmly in control of the match.
VAR, however, called the play back for a build-up foul on Lisandro Martínez nearly 100 yards away from the net.
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While many thought the goal should have stood, Argentina ended up as 3-2 winners on the day.
Most recently during Argentina's 3-1 extra-time win over Switzerland in the quarters on Sunday, Swiss forward Breel Embolo went down under a challenge from Argentina’s Leandro Paredes, and the referee showed him a yellow card.
VAR then initiated a review using FIFA's ‘mistaken identity’ protocol, determining that Paredes made no illegal contact and that Embolo had simulated the dive.
The referee overturned Paredes’s booking and instead transferred the yellow card to Embolo for simulation.
Because Embolo had already been booked earlier in the match, this resulted in a red card.
Former referee Mark Clattenburg called the punishment incredibly harsh, while Swiss coach Murat Yakin said the decision ‘destroyed the game’.
I thought it was a clear dive personally, but we move.
Following England’s 2-1 extra-time win over Norway, the three lions will now take on Lionel Messi's Argentina on Wednesday (15 July) for a spot in the final.
Over on social media though, fans have issued a warning to England.
“Good luck England, you are going to need it. I predict there will be at least one penalty to Argentina, at least one red card to England and NO VAR checks against Argentina. 3-1 to Argentina,” one fan tweeted.
“They have the ref in their pocket. Don’t see England winning against 12 man Argentina plus Infantino,” another penned.
Someone else wrote: “Argentina can't beat England without bad officiating and the British press is already waiting for any wrong calls to be exposed. It's going to be a movie on Wednesday.”
Well, after the game on Saturday, England manager Thomas Tuchel wasn’t happy with the performance and demanded a big improvement in the semis.
“When he sees us train and sees the closeness of us and sees what we can do, especially with the players we have, the way we attack, our one-on-ones and the skills, he just wants to see that version of us,” captain Harry Kane explained.
“He knows as much as anyone that it’s not as simple as that, we’re playing against good opposition and good teams.
“He’s trying to drag it out of us and we know ourselves we have another level that we can reach.
“We haven’t seen that yet, we’ve shown it in glimpses. Against Norway it was in glimpses.”
He added: “But we haven’t had full control that we would like and I feel we can have.
“But at this stage of the tournament you are playing against the best teams in the world.
“We’ll be playing against one of the best teams in the world in the semi-final, so the most pleasing thing is that we are in a semi-final and we can still feel like we can improve.
“But I don’t think it is something to get really over the top about. We are showing a lot of good things.”
2026 World Cup results so far
Sunday, 12 July
Quarter-final - Match 100: Argentina vs Switzerland, 3-1
Saturday, 11 July
Quarter-final - Match 99: Norway vs England, 1-2
Friday, 10 July
Quarter-final - Match 98: Spain vs Belgium, 2-1
Thursday, 9 July
Quarter-final - Match 97: France vs Morocco, 2-0
Tuesday 7 July
Round of 16 - Match 94: USA vs Belgium, 1-4
Round of 16 - Match 95: Argentina vs Egypt, 3-2
Round of 16 - Match 96: Switzerland vs Colombia, 0-0 (4-3 on penalties)
Monday 6 July
Round of 16 - Match 92: Mexico vs England, 2-3
Round of 16 - Match 93: Portugal vs Spain, 0-1
Sunday 5 July
Round of 16 - Match 91: Brazil vs Norway, 1-2
Saturday 4 July
Round of 32 - Match 87: Colombia vs Ghana, 1-0
Round of 16 - Match 90: Canada vs Morocco, 0-3
Round of 16 - Match 89: Paraguay vs France, 0-1
Friday 3 July
Round of 32 - Match 83: Portugal vs Croatia, 2-1
Round of 32 - Match 85: Switzerland vs Algeria, 2-0
Round of 32 - Match 88: Australia vs Egypt, 1-1 (2-4 on penalties)
Round of 32 - Match 86: Argentina vs Cabo Verde, 3-2
Thursday, 2 July
Round of 32 - Match 81: USA vs Bosnia & Herzegovnia, 2-0
Round of 32 - Match 84: Spain vs Austria, 3-0
Wednesday, 1 July
Round of 32 - Match 79: Mexico vs Ecuador, 2-0
Round of 32 - Match 80: England vs DR Congo, 2-1
Round of 32 - Match 82: Belgium vs Senegal, 3-2
Tuesday, 30 June
Round of 32 - Match 75: Netherlands vs Morocco, 1-1 (3-2)
Round of 32 - Match 78: Ivory Coast vs Norway, 2-1
Round of 32 - Match 77: France vs Sweden, 3-0
Monday, 29 June
Round of 32 - Match 76: Brazil vs Japan, 2-1
Round of 32 - Match 74: Germany vs Paraguay, 1-1 (4-3)
Sunday, 28 June
Group K: Colombia vs Portugal, 0-0
Group K: DR Congo vs Uzbekistan, 3-1
Group J: Algeria vs Austria, 3-3
Group J: Jordan vs Argentina, 3-1
Round of 32 - Match 73: South Africa vs Canada, 1-0
Saturday, 27 June
Group H: Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia, 0-0
Group H: Uruguay vs Spain, 1-0
Group G: New Zealand vs Belgium, 5-1
Group G: Egypt vs Iran, 1-1
Group L: Panama vs England, 2-0
Group L: Croatia vs Ghana, 2-1
Friday, 26 June
Group I: Senegal vs Iraq, 5-0
Group I: Norway vs France, 4-1
Group F: Tunisia vs Netherlands, 3-1
Group F: Japan vs Sweden, 1-1
Group D: Türkiye vs USA, 3-2
Group D: Paraguay vs Australia, 0-0
Thursday, 25 June
Group A: South Africa vs South Korea, 1-0
Group A: Mexico vs Czech Republic, 3-0
Group E: Curacao vs Ivory Coast, 2-0
Group E: Germany vs Ecuador, 2-1
Wednesday, 24 June
Group C: Brazil vs Scotland, 3-0
Group C: Morocco vs Haiti, 4-2
Group B: Qatar vs Bosnia-Herzegovnia, 3-1
Group B: Switzerland vs Canada, 2-1
Group L: Panama vs Croatia, 1-0
Group L: Colombia vs DR Congo, 1-0
Tuesday, 23 June
Group I: Norway vs Senegal, 3-2
Group J: Algeria vs Jordan, 2-1
Group K: Portugal vs Uzbekistan, 5-0
Group L: England vs Ghana, 0-0
Monday, 22 June
Group G: New Zealand vs Egypt, 1-3
Group J: Argentina vs Austria, 2-0
Group I: France vs Iraq, 3-0
Sunday, 21 June
Group E: Ecuador vs Curaçao, 0-0
Group F: Tunisia vs Japan, 0-4
Group G: Belgium vs Iran, 0-0
Group H: Spain vs Saudi Arabia, 4-0
Group H: Uruguay vs Cape Verde, 2-2
Saturday, 20 June
Group C: Brazil vs Haiti, 3-0
Group D: Turkey vs Paraguay, 0-1
Group E: Germany vs Ivory Coast, 2-1
Group F: Netherlands vs Sweden, 5-1
Friday, 19 June
Group A: Mexico vs South Korea, 1-0
Group C: Scotland vs Morocco, 0-1
Group D: USA vs Australia, 2-0
Thursday 18 June
Group L: Ghana vs Panama, 1-0
Group K: Uzbekistan vs Colombia, 1-3
Group A: Czech Republic vs South Africa, 1-1
Group B: Switzerland vs Bosnia & Herzegovina, 4-1
Group B: Canada vs Qatar, 6-0
Wednesday 17 June
Group K: Portugal vs DR Congo, 1-1
Group L: England vs Croatia, 4-2
Group J: Argentina vs Algeria, 3-0
Group J: Austria vs Jordan, 3-1
Tuesday 16 June
Group G: Iran vs New Zealand, 2-2
Group I: France vs Senegal, 3-1
Group I: Iraq vs Norway, 1-4
Monday, 15 June
Group E: Ivory Coast vs Ecuador, 1-0
Group F: Sweden vs Tunisia, 5-1
Sunday, 14 June
Group C: Haiti vs Scotland, 0-1
Group D: Australia vs Turkey, 2-0
Group E: Germany vs Curaçao, 7-1
Group F: Netherlands vs Japan, 2-2
Saturday, 13 June
Group D: USA vs Paraguay, 4-1
Group B: Qatar vs Switzerland, 1-1
Group C: Brazil vs Morocco, 1-1
Friday, 12 June
Group A: South Korea vs Czech Republic, 2-1
Group B: Canada vs Bosnia & Herzegovina, 1-1
Thursday, 11 June
Group A: Mexico vs South Africa, 2-0
Anish Vij