Lionel Messi was at the heart of a heated match between Argentina and Uruguay on Thursday night in Buenos Aires. The game was a World Cup qualifier.

Mathias Olivera, a defender for Uruguay, and Rodrigo De Paul, a player for Argentina, got into a temper tantrum in the 20th minute.

Before Argentina leader Messi showed up, it was just a verbal figҺt. But when he did, it turned physical.

Messi put Olivera’s chest with his right elbow first, then quickly wrapped his left hand around the Uruguayan’s neck.

Olivera didn’t seem to mind Messi much because he kept his wide eyes on De Paul until the scrum was broken up.

It’s amazing that neither Judge Wilmer Roldan nor any of the players involved got yellow or red cards because of this figҺt.

Ronald Araujo and Darwin Nunez scored both goals as Uruguay won 2-0 on Thursday.

Messi has been sent off three times as a professional player. He got two of those red cards while playing for Argentina.

He was famously sent off on his first game for his country, against Hungary in 2005. After 14 years, he wore red again, this time against Chile in the 2019 Copa America.

Messi’s only red card in a club game so far came during a 2021 Supercopa semifinal match between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao.