Louis van Gaal claims the World Cup was RIGGED to help Lionel Messi lift the trophy in Qatar, insisting that Argentina were ‘not punished for overstepping the mark’ during their quarter-final win over the Netherlands

Louis van Gaal has claimed last year’s World Cup in Qatar was manipulated to finally lift Lionel Messi.

Considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time, Messi led Argentina to World Cup glory in December 2022 by scoring twice in the final and helping his country beat France 4-2 on penalties at the Lusail Stadium.

The 36-year-old striker defeated the Netherlands, then under Van Gaal’s management, in the quarter-finals and scored in normal time before guiding his country to a 4-3 win on penalties.

Van Gaal, who resigned as head coach following the Netherlands’ departure from the World Cup, believes the tournament was rigged to finally win Messi the trophy that had always eluded him.

When asked to think about the World Cup in Qatar, he told Dutch outlet NOS: ‘I don’t really want to say much about it. When you see how Argentina score the goals and how we score the goals, and how some Argentine players went over the line and were not punished, I think it was all a premeditated game.

After journalists asked the 72-year-old to clarify what he meant, the former boss said: “I mean everything I say. That Messi should be world champion? I think so.’

Van Gaal spoke at the Eredivisie Awards on Tuesday, where he was recognized for his contribution to Dutch football.

After a glorious diagonal pass from Messi, Nahuel Molina scored the lead for Argentina in the quarter-final before his captain doubled their lead from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute.

Dutch substitute Wout Weghorst then mounted a dramatic comeback with two late goals, equalizing in the eleventh minute of extra time to keep the Netherlands in the tournament.

In the quarter-final, no less than sixteen yellow cards were handed out to both teams, before Dutch right-back Denzel Dumfries was sent off deep into extra time.

Argentina escaped the heady brawl without an exclusion, despite eight of their players securing bookings.

Van Gaal, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2022 and underwent surgery in April last year, revealed he went under the knife again after sharing his vision for the World Cup final.

He added, “It’s still the same. On August 9, I had another operation and complications arose. I won’t bore you with what happened. But it looks nice now.

‘I have to rest until September 19. Then we will see if the operation has achieved its goal.

‘In general I feel good. So it’s not that I don’t feel well, it’s more that I’m not fit and gasp when I walk up the stairs. That was not possible two years ago and now it is.’