SOME World Cup viewers were left raging after Lionel Messi escaped seeing red after a dodgy-looking challenge against Algeria.
Messi, 38, took centre stage with an incredible hat-trick on his return to World Cup action three and a half years after lifting the trophy in Qatar, drawing him level with Miroslav Klose at the top of the tournament’s all-time scorers list.
His early near-post finish at the Kansas City Stadium was ruled out for offside but by the 17th minute he had thumped Argentina into a 1-0 lead.
Later in the first half, however, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner would be caught up in controversy.
The clock had just ticked past half an hour when Messi’s studs scraped down the calf of Aissa Mandi.
It was a painful knock for the Algerian, who immediately went tumbling to the turf.
But neither referee Szymon Marciniak nor his VAR sidekicks decided that the challenge was worthy of any punishment.
That did not go down well with fans who felt that no player other than Messi would have been treated so leniently.
One X user wrote: “This doesn’t look good for football, Messi getting away with an obvious red card on the world stage is a disgrace.”
Another said: “That should have easily been a red card. Expect the same with [Cristiano] Ronaldo. It’s going to be rigged for them to play against each other.”
A third added: “Can’t believe he got no card for this challenge.”
Another responded: “This was criminal, any other player is getting sent off.”
And a fifth put: “Messi didn’t get a red card because he is the son of Fifa.”
Messi went on to score twice more in the second half, tucking in a rebound and then arrowing in from the edge of the box to give Argentina a handsome 3-0 win.