Argentina defender Facundo Medina encountered a garage owner who alleged Argentina deliberately gave up the 2026 World Cup final against Spain, according to a report by Argentine outlet TyC Sports. Medina had recently visited the garage, where the owner did not recognize him as a national-team player and criticized Argentina’s players over the final defeat.

The owner offered Medina a cup of mate and began discussing the national team after noticing three Argentine stars engraved on Medina’s vessel. Medina did not reveal his identity. Instead, he encouraged the man to continue and listened to the complaints for about an hour. Medina later recalled that the owner said, “We gave this away. We threw the match.”

The situation changed when a woman leaving a nearby bakery recognized Medina and informed the garage owner’s companion. Medina said he later saw the woman crying and approached her to calm her. He told her, “Don’t cry now. We didn’t give anything away, we wanted to win.” The two then embraced.