"You have zero" - Leandro Paredes shuts down Real Madrid star Rodrygo as Argentina thrash Brazil without Lionel Messi

The fierce rivalry between Argentina and Brazil continued during their latest clash in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. In a commanding display of football prowess, La Albiceleste put their South American counterparts to the sword 4-1 at Buenos Aires on March 26.

Tensions were bound to run high between the two teams after Brazilian winger Raphinha used swear words and was in a bullish mood ahead of the highly anticipated clash.

While the game went on, a fiery interaction occurred between La Albiceleste midfielder Leandro Paredes and Seleção forward Rodrygo.

According to All About Argentina on X, Rodrygo confronted Paredes, stating (via):

"You are very bad."

Paredes sharply retorted:

"I have one World Cup and two Copa Americas, you have zero."

Argentina asserted dominance from the outset. Julian Alvarez opened the scoring in the opening four minutes before Enzo Fernandez doubled his side’s lead in the 12th minute. Matheus Cunha halved the deficit for the visitors in the 26th minute, capitalizing on an error by Cristian Romero.

Alexis Mac Allister restored Argentina’s two-goal lead before halftime. Giuliano Simeone sealed the emphatic victory after scoring a fourth goal in the latter stages of the match.

Raphinha, who tried to rile up Lionel Scaloni’s men with his comments ahead of the game, had a night to forget. He had zero shots on target, was yellow-carded, had zero dribbles, registered a passing accuracy of 64% (16/25), lost possession 11 times, and received a rating of 6.6 as per Sofascore.

With the match’s result, Argentina extended their lead at the top of their division’s table with 31 points after 14 games. They have also officially qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

''I know he didn’t do it on purpose'' – Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni says he forgives Raphinha after 4-1 thumping of Brazil

Lionel Scaloni was in good spirits after his side thrashed Brazil 4-1 in the World Cup qualifiers. The Argentina boss initially avoided being drawn into the controversy surrounding Raphinha’s comments before the match.

After the match, Scaloni said he had forgiven Raphinha, insisting that the Barcelona star had no malicious intent. Scaloni said (via All About Argentina on X):

“I forgive Raphinha because I know he didn’t do it on purpose, he’s defending his country. I’m completely sure he didn’t mean to hurt anyone. There’s no need for statements for the game to be played this way. We didn’t play like this because of that."

La Abiceleste will play Chile in their next FIFA World Cup qualifying match while Brazil will take on Ecuador.