The Barcelona winger enraged his World Cup qualifying opponents and was made to eat his own words after the 4-1 defeat
10:02, 26 Mar 2025Updated 10:08, 26 Mar 2025
Raphinha is surrounded by Argentina players.
Raphinha is surrounded by Argentina players.
Brazil star Raphinha was mocked with a two-word message after his x-rated prediction backfired following the 4-1 thrashing by Argentina.
The incident took place as the Barcelona winger was exiting the pitch moments after the final whistle in Bueno Aires on Wednesday morning.
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Lionel Scaloni's men had romped to victory to secure their place at the 2026 World Cup, despite the fact they were missing national icon Lionel Messi.
Ex-Manchester City man Julian Alvarez, Chelsea's Eno Fernandez, Liverpool's Alexis MacAllister and Giuliano Simeone grabbed the goals with Wolves' Matheus Cunha grabbing a consolation.
Raphinha had laid down the gauntlet before the match with an x-rated rant. Speaking to Brazilian legend Romario, the ex-Leeds star declared: "We are going to beat them up on and off the pitch if necessary.
"I am going to score. They can s*** themselves! In Argentina, you have to hit them, it hurts! They're b*******."
Towards the end of the game, Argentina's fans mockingly chanted 'sub on Raphinha' before he was surrounded by blue and white shirt as he left the field.
Enzo Fernandez, Leandro Paredes and Christian Romero all exchanged words with the 28-year-old who shoved Paredes in frustration.
Youngster Endrick then had to hold the winger back as players from both sides swarmed to the situation in the middle of the pitch.
Raphinha of Brazil reacts to Cristian Romero of Argentina
Raphinha of Brazil reacts to Cristian Romero of Argentina(Image: Getty Images)
At full-time it was revealed Nicola Otamendi walked up to Raphinha during the game and said "talk less" in a taunt to the wingers as he watched his team get mauled.
Footage following the match showed the host players also singing: "A minute of silence... Shh!... For Raphinha who is dead!"
Reacting to Raphinha's pre-match comments, Paredes said: "You shouldn't talk about it beforehand, you shouldn't say these kinds of things when you can't back it up on the pitch. When he said that, we sent it to the WhatsApp group and we discussed it.
"Whenever this kind of thing happens, we stand up for ourselves on the pitch."
Brazil captain Marquinhos apologised after the game and slammed the "embarrassing" performance when speaking to Brazilian TV Globo.
"What we did here today can't happen again," he said. "It's hard to talk about it in the heat of the moment... It's embarrassing.
"We started the game very badly, far below what we could do and they're on a great run of confidence. They knew how to play smart ... I'm sorry for our fans."
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While Argentina have already secured their place at the 2026 World Cup, Brazil still have work to do to claim an automatic berth in North America. They are fourth in the South American standings on 21 points, just six points ahead of Venezuela in seventh.