"The look is bad and the smell is horrible".. Neville exposes Argentina's performance

Gary Neville has torn into Argentina's display in the 2026 World Cup final, a 1-0 defeat to Spain, branding it "a load of rubbish" and insisting Lionel Messi's genius alone had dragged them to the showpiece.

The Manchester United legend, 51, told the "Stick to Football" podcast: "They played very badly, let's be clear. They played badly. What I mean is that if they can stay in the match then we should praise them. They did well, but they played poorly."

Neville, who won 85 caps with England and later managed Valencia, argued that Argentina would never have reached back-to-back finals without Messi, scorer of eight goals in the tournament. "Argentina have wonderful chemistry and a fierce competitive spirit, and they have an amazing player up front who helps them achieve victory. Without him they might have struggled to get there," he said.

Praise for their fighting spirit did nothing to soften his verdict. "If it looks bad and it smells bad, then it's bad, frankly. What we saw in the final was a mediocre performance. They played badly at various times," he insisted.

Ian Wright saw it differently. The Arsenal legend, capped 33 times by England, admitted: "I'm happy that Argentina didn't win, but I'm also sad. I didn't like seeing Messi cry that way, it was clear how affected he was by it." He added: "But I'm very happy for Spain."

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