Former Netherlands head coach Louis van Gaal has claimed that the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar was rigged in order to help Lionel Messi finally lift the trophy.
Messi led Argentina to World Cup glory in December 2022, scoring twice in the final to help his country beat France 4-2 on penalties.
The 36-year-old forward helped Argentina eliminate the Netherlands, then managed by Van Gaal, in the quarter-final, scoring in normal time before guiding his country to a 4-3 win on penalties.
Van Gaal, who resigned as head coach following the Netherlands’ World Cup exit, believes that the tournament was rigged so that Messi could finally win the trophy that had always eluded him.
When asked to reflect on the World Cup in Qatar, he told Dutch outlet NOS: “I don’t really want to say much about it. When you see how Argentina gets the goals and how we get the goals, and how some Argentina players overstepped the mark and were not punished, then I think it all premeditated game.
“I mean everything I say. That Messi should become world champion? I think so, yes.”
But reacting to Van Gaal’s claims, Virgil van Dijk disagreed with his former national team coach.
“It is of course his opinion. Everyone is allowed to have an opinion. I do not share the same opinion.”
