A scene that sparked heated debate occurred during the FIFA World Cup final between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. During injury time in the match between Spain and Argentina, Messi complained that Cucurella covered his mouth while talking, but the referee, Vincic, took no action.

A new rule was added to this FIFA World Cup: players covering their mouths during confrontational communication will be sent off with a red card. Both Paraguay's Almirón and Ecuador's Hincapié were consequently red-carded.

During injury time, Cucurella put his hand over his mouth while speaking with Messi, then quickly removed it. From the match footage, Cucurella covered his mouth at 94 minutes and 29 seconds into the match, but quickly removed it, a process that lasted no more than 1 second. Messi signaled to referee Vincic that Cucurella had covered his mouth, and Vincic explained to Messi that VAR's feedback indicated no issue.

In response, the referee analysis media Archivo VAR commented: Cucurella should not have been red-carded because he merely slightly covered his mouth with his hand while speaking to Messi, and there was no confrontational behavior. Vincic also determined that no confrontation occurred between the two parties, thus dismissing Messi's complaint.

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