Petition calling for Argentina’s exclusion from future World Cups surpasses 23 million signatures: nearly breaks Guinness World Record

The initiative represents an expression of fan sentiment but does not constitute an official decision by world soccer’s governing body.

An online petition calling for the exclusion of the Argentine national team from future editions of the FIFA World Cup went viral last week and closed with more than 23 million signatures, according to its organizers.

The initiative, hosted on the website argentinaout.com, emerged during the 2026 World Cup and argues that there was alleged referee bias in favor of the Argentine team throughout the tournament.

Petition to exclude Argentina from the World Cup gathers 23 million signatures

The campaign gained visibility after the Albiceleste’s group stage matches, intensified following the knockout match against Egypt, and continued through the subsequent decisive rounds, after several users shared videos and images on social media alleging favorable treatment toward the Argentine national team.

The initial goal was to reach just 5 million signatures, but the initiative—which stopped gaining supporters after Spain’s victory in the final—ended with a total of 23,316,108 signatures, according to data published by its organizers.

“Over 23 Million people from 170 countries signed this petition in under a week. FIFA ignored us but Spain delivered. Thank you Spain,” the website reads.

However, beyond the discontent expressed, with this number of signatures, “Argentina Out” was just over a million signatures short of breaking a Guinness World Record. The Jubilee 2000 movement, which called for the cancellation of the debt of the poorest countries before the start of the new millennium, gathered 24,319,181 signatures, according to El Boletín.

Meanwhile, according to the media outlet, an archived version of the initiative expressly warns that "the counter shown on the page is a view count and not a total of verified signatures."

Furthermore, they stated that the campaign represents an expression of opinion by fans with no affiliation with FIFA, the Argentine Football Association (AFA), any national federation, or the players mentioned, and that it does not imply an official decision by world soccer’s governing body.

Despite this, FIFA has indeed opened an investigation into the clashes that occurred at the end of the final against Spain, in which names of Argentine national team players such as Nahuel Molina and Leandro Paredes, as well as members of the coaching staff, have been mentioned.

For now, world soccer’s governing body has not announced any potential sanctions and will wait until the disciplinary process is complete before issuing an official ruling, which would occur, at the earliest, within a few weeks.