Argentina faces FBI investigation amid World Cup run

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Round of 16 - Argentina v Egypt - Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - July 7, 2026 Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Carlos BarriaLed by international superstar Lionel Messi, the Argentinian soccer team has reached the quarterfinal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as it looks to defend its 2022 World Cup title. However, in addition to the challenge on the field, it sounds like the team is going to have to contend with a legal battle.

>As first reported by Argentinian newspaper La Nación, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the Argentine Football Association (AFA) for possible fraud and money laundering in the United States as the team moves through the World Cup.

Argentina Faces InvestigationAccording to a report from La Nación, the FBI is investigating how the AFA moved more than $300 million to banks and companies in the United States.

>The newspaper reports that the FBI questioned AFA President Claudio Tapia regarding how the AFA structured its international commercial agreements. The agency is reportedly looking into whether transactions involving U.S.-based banks and companies might have broken U.S law by concealing potentially illicit funds and their purpose.

>No charges have been filed in Argentina or in the United States related to the probe.

International InvestigationEarlier this year, Nicolás Pizzi, who is an investigative journalist for the Argentine newspaper La Nación, broke the original story on the soccer scandal. However, according to the Miami Herald, the scandal has now grown into an “international investigation.”

>“The scandal has expanded into an international investigation, placing Miami at the center of a complex web of shell companies, offshore transfers and opaque financial flows that might have deceived U.S. banks about the potentially illicit nature of the funds and how they would be used. At its core lies a familiar pattern: money moving quickly, obscured ownership and oversight struggling to keep pace,” the Miami Herald wrote on Thursday.

>An investigation by La Nación uncovered a number of questionable bank transfers and payments, including $340,000 to the family of a so-called “spiritual guide” who traveled with the national team to major tournaments and $2.3 million routed to a U.S.-registered company tied to an individual with “no clear financial profile.”

>“We are talking about at least $260 million …, and it’s a provisional figure that will grow,” Pizzi told The Miami Herald.

>It’s worth noting that no formal changes have been filed at this point, but the probe remains active.

>The post Argentina faces FBI investigation amid World Cup run appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.