Lionel Messi has spoken out after an opponent Paraguayan player called Antonio Sanabria allegedly spat on him during the recent Argentina vs Paraguay 2026 World Cup Qualifier match in a viral video
The match, which took place at the Monumental Stadium ended in 1-0 win in favor of Argentina.
Who is Antonio Sanabria Paraguay football player who allegedly spat on Lionel Messi in viral video
Don Antonio Sanabria, dibuje. ✍🏻pic.twitter.com/YXm4C0xSjY
— Marco 🍥 🆇 (@__ElBicho007) October 13, 2023
🚨🗣 Lionel Messi: "Sanabria (Paraguay player)? They told me in the locker room that someone spat on me. The truth is that I don't even know who that boy is. I prefer not to talk, otherwise he's going to go out and talk everywhere and will be known."pic.twitter.com/tA4VtHGZfk
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) October 13, 2023
Antonio Sanabria is a Paraguayan footballer and a former Barcelona player who currently plays for Italian club Torino.
Lionel Messi gets spat on by Antonio Sanabria
During the match, Messi came on in the second half around the 52nd minute to replace Julian Alvarez. During the 85th minutem, Messi and Sanabria had a scuffle, following which the Paraguayan spat at the back of the Argentinean. The spittle passed closeby to Leo’s body and that Brazilian referee Raphael Claus failed to see it. Meanwhile, another Paraguayan soccer player called Gustavo Gomez told Messi to “take it easy” to avoid escalating things.
Following the incident, Messi replied:
“The truth is that I didn’t see it. They told me in the locker room that one of them had spit on me. The truth is I don’t even know who this guy is. I didn’t see him. They only told me. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it because he’s going to be talked about everywhere and it’s worse. It’s going to become known, so it’s better to leave it there.”
Aside from the incident, Messi also shared about his participation in the match. He explained how he felt happy to be able to play with the National Team as well as take part in training sessions. He shared how he had little play time in his club, but got to play again which felt good. He also shared his joy of playing at home and how the match turned out.
Antonio Sanabria denies spitting at Messi
Surprisingly, Antonio Sanabria played down the incident and denied spitting at Messi. While looking at an image of the incident, Sanabria stated that even though he looks like he spit it out, there is nothing to see. He added:
“It was far away. Nothing happened with Messi. It looks like I spit on him, but nothing to do with it, it was far away. I totally deny it.”
Messi’s run-in with Toni Sanabria in the past
Interestingly, Lionel Messi and Toni Sanabria have met in the past back in Barcelona and even took a picture together. Back in 2008 Toni Sanabria moved to Sitges (Spain), and joined the youth academy of Barcelona in June 2009. H eventually made his debut with the Barcelona B in 2013. His time there at Barcelona coincided with Messi’s time at the club.