The World Cup final ended in an exceptionally heated atmosphere. During a commercial break on the French broadcast, Leandro Paredes was involved in a major altercation with several Spanish players.
Paredes was having a terrible day. Introduced at half-time, the Argentine midfielder had already been booked in the 52nd minute. Visibly agitated, he first confronted Eric Garcia, shoving him before grabbing him by the throat in the middle of a crowd of players.
Paredes Clashes With Gavi and Eric Garcia
Gavi then became involved in the scuffle and attempted to retaliate. The situation quickly escalated between the two players as Thiago Almada tried to restrain his teammate. Despite his intervention, Paredes knocked the Barcelona midfielder to the ground and grabbed him by his substitutes’ bib. In the confusion, the former PSG player also struck him in the face.
🚨🥊 Full scenes after final whistle.@MickyJnr__ 🎥 pic.twitter.com/ZXCvAFkHwy
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 20, 2026
Look at this thug.
Leandro Paredes should be banned for a long time.
Can’t handle his team produced the worse World Cup final performance in history.
What a sore loser pic.twitter.com/AFp7ToQMmm
— Red Army 68' 🇾🇪 (@MUFC_RA) July 19, 2026
Isso não se faz com sujeito homem não, tá?
Dando banda por trás e tapa na cara.
Paredes foi muito otario. pic.twitter.com/qLqF7bR1mL
— Futmais | Menino Fut (@futtmais) July 20, 2026
Several players and staff members eventually stepped in to bring the incident to an end. Paredes was then shown a red card after the final whistle. Footage of the altercation later circulated online, revealing a moment of tension that French television viewers had missed live.
