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Argentina's '4.5m demand to World Cup team' comes to light ahead of England semi-final

The Argentina FA have been accused of demanding a seven-figure fee to play in an international friendly prior to the World Cup

[The Argentina national team at the World Cup]

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Argentina were due to play Mexico in March but the agreement collapsed over finances

The Argentinian Football Association has been accused of allegedly making a huge demand for a 4.5 million ($6m) payment just days before the World Cup semi-final against England in Atlanta. Lionel Messi's nation are due to face off against Thomas Tuchel's side on Wednesday for a place in Sunday's final, but reports about their alleged financial conduct have come to light.

Estadio Azteca, one of the most impressive arenas to host World Cup matches in Mexico City, reopened earlier this year under the name Estadio Banorte after undergoing a revamp ahead of the tri-nation tournament across North America. In order to celebrate the opening of the 90,000-capacity venue, the Mexico FA approached Argentina to play against El Tri in an international friendly in March.

The match would have served as a warm-up for both national teams before the tournament, with the idea that Argentina would receive payment for their participation. Lionel Scaloni's side were due to play there after agreeing to terms, but the deal fell apart over the world champions' match fee demands, according to reports in Mexico.

Per Record Mexico, journalist Carlos Ponce de Leon is quoted claiming that the Argentina FA told their Mexican counterparts they wanted '$6m for the match'. An issue also arose after they allegedly requested that the payment be split up and deposited into different bank accounts.

Mexico, while looking for opponents to finalize its preparation ahead of the 2026 World Cup, ended up finding Portugal and Belgium, but it had already made contact with Argentina. There was already an agreement with Argentina to play against the reigning world champions, Ponce de Len said, via Record Mexico.

The problem was that from the Argentine Federation, they told the Mexican Federation (FMF): You know what, its $6 million dollars for the match. Its crazy. They are the national team that charges the most to play a soccer match, even more expensive than Portugal.

And they told the FMF: Its $6 million, but guess what? You deposit one part here, another part here, and another part here. In other words, you have to distribute the money among different places. The Mexican Federation said: Ill give you the money and you can distribute it however you want."

[Inside the Azteca Stadium]

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Argentina were due to play Mexico at the Azteca in March 2026(Image: David Ramos, Getty Images)

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When Mexico refused, Argentina insisted on distributing the payment again and they decided not to get involved. The deal then fell apart, with Argentina refusing to play in the fixture.

Ponce de Leon added: "The response was: No, we need your help with this, etc. Thats when the warning signs appeared, and the FMF said: We are not going to get involved in problems.

The co-hosts eventually set up a friendly with Portugal on March 28, 2026, which ended in a goalless draw. However, there was some disappointment from Mexico's side that Cristiano Ronaldo did not play in the game, given the 41-year-old's global status.

Mirror Football has reached out to the AFA for comment.

[This image shows the logo of Argentine Football Association (AFA), at the headquarters entrance in Buenos Aires on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Luis ROBAYO / AFP via Getty Images)]

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The Argentine Football Association (AFA) have come under fire

It comes just days after reports in Argentina emerged that the FBI were investigating allegations of money laundering by the AFA concerning the depositing of 225m worth of payments from their Miami branch.

Argentina are one step away from reaching their second consecutive World Cup final after beating Switzerland 3-1 in the quarter-final after extra time on Sunday. Messi has scored eight goals en route to the last four and faces England for the first time in his career in Atlanta.

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