The Algeria national football team is facing a punishment from the VAR referee in the Algeria vs Argentina match at the FIFA World Cup 2026. The Algerian national team lost to Argentina with a clean sheet of three goals in the opening match of the two teams in the World Cup 2026. According to Algerian TV, FIFA took disciplinary action against the VAR referee who refereed the Algeria and Argentina match, due to the controversial incident that brought together Lionel Messi and Aissa Mandi. He added that FIFA opened an internal investigation that included various refereeing parties, including Polish referee Szymon Marciniak and video technology room referees, following a complaint from the Algerian Football Federation. The same sources reported that the investigation results showed that the error was not from the main referee who requested a review of the incident, but from the VAR referee who did not advise stopping the game or re-examining the situation despite the controversy surrounding it. According to the same sources, FIFA fully attributed the error to the VAR referee, without revealing his identity or the nature of the punishment, as part of the policy adopted regarding the secrecy of VAR referees during the World Cup 2026. It is worth noting that Australian Isaac Trevis was the assistant video referee in the match between Argentina and Algeria. The International Federation continues to adopt a new video technology system during the tournament, based on a main control center in New York, instead of VAR rooms inside the stadiums, with the aim of improving efficiency and reducing costs. The Algeria national football team had lost the match to Argentina with three clean goals, which sparked great controversy over the referee's performance in the match. The Algerian team continues its matches in the World Cup 2026, with great hopes of achieving positive results in the tournament.