Lionel Messi is subject of formal complaint to FIFA following incident in Algeria game

A formal complaint has been lodged against Lionel Messi following the World Cup clash between Argentina and Algeria, according to reports.

Messi, who is now the joint top scorer in World Cup history alongside Miroslav Klose, stole the headlines on Wednesday after netting a hat-trick for the defending champions in a convincing 3-0 win over Algeria.

However, Vladimir Petkovic’s side were left seemingly unhappy with Messi's conduct on the pitch.

In fact, the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) has filed a complaint with FIFA regarding the refereeing decisions in their Group J opener, with an incident involving Messi being one of three sore points.

As mentioned in a report by The Athletic, the complaint centres around Messi’s tackle in the 30th minute, in which he caught Aissa Mandi on his right calf and Achilles tendon with his studs up.

Algeria were awarded a free-kick by Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, although his failure to produce a card in between Messi's first and second goals has clearly angered the North African nation.

Messi's challenge on Aissa Mandi has become a huge talking point. Image credit: Getty

The report also mentions two other incidents, with one involving Alexis Mac Allister, who made contact with an apparent elbow on Hadj Moussa. The other collision involved forward Ibrahim Maza.

Algeria’s complaint raises questions about Marciniak’s performance, as well as his VAR team.

“It’s pointless commenting on hypothetical situations, but everyone saw it, including me,” said Algeria head coach Vladimir Petkovic said in his post-match news conference.

South Africa manager references Lionel Messi incident after his player receives ban at World Cup

On Thursday, South Africa's Themba Zwane was handed a three-match ban for violent conduct after being shown a straight red card in the 84th minute of their World Cup opener against Mexico.

Hugo Broos, who is South Africa's head coach, mentioned Messi's challenge that went unpunished when asked about Zwane's ban.

“When ​I see what happened with ​Messi, I don't agree, ⁠certainly not, with what happened to my player," he said.

"When you see the situation, the Mexican player blocked my player, and Themba tried to get over him, ​and he put his arm over his shoulder. That's all he does.

“And you ⁠get a red card for that and then a three-game suspension? Sorry, but this is much, much, much too severe.

"I don't want Messi to get a red card, because a player of that quality has ⁠to ​be on the pitch as you saw (against Algeria), but what was ​the difference between that and Zwane?” he asked.