Argentina is under a multidimensional attack that combines the theft of the final of the 2026 World Cup with a mega coordinated international campaign to discredit the country. This offensive, driven by algorithms on social media and betting bots from Russia and Eastern Europe, has sought to establish narratives of “racism” and hatred against Argentines.
However, for certain local intellectuals, this aggression is a national invention. Marcos Novaro, sociologist, philosopher, and senior researcher at Conicet, has published a piece in the media TN titled “The supposed ‘anti-Argentina campaign’ feeds our nationalist paranoia”, where he attempts to ridicule the people's defensive sentiment.
In his text, Novaro —who also directs the Center for Political Research at UBA— argues that Argentines “pursue ourselves with a supposed ‘anti-Argentina campaign’” and react in a “virulent” manner to criticism.
The author omits compelling evidence of this coordination, such as editorials in media like New York Post or The Telegraph, and statements from celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson, who labeled the nation as “one of the most racist countries, if not the most racist in the world”.
For the political scientist, engaging with these aggressions is a “traumatic exercise in victimhood”. He even suggests that international criticisms against the National Team are functional for attacking the government of Javier Milei, but downplays the fact that Argentina was “greatly harmed” in the final by a Slovenian officiating crew imposed by UEFA to save the presidency of Gianni Infantino.
The most scandalous point of Novaro's note lies in his disdain for the Malvinas Cause. Referring to the sovereign claim and the flag displayed by the players in front of England, the author throws out a damning phrase: “The worst nostalgia is that of having lost what we never had”. With this assertion, the researcher denies the historical legitimacy of our right over the islands, claiming that “in fact, as Argentines, we never had them”, except during the conflict of 1982, a period he qualifies as one of the “worst stages of our existence”.
