Gianluca Prestianni Faces World Cup Suspension

Gianluca Prestianni will walk into this summer with a cloud over his head and a World Cup dream on hold.

Fifa has extended the Benfica winger’s suspension across the globe, meaning that if Lionel Scaloni includes him in Argentina’s squad, the 20-year-old will be unavailable for the Albiceleste’s first two matches at the tournament.

The punishment stems from February’s Champions League tie against Real Madrid, when Prestianni admitted using homophobic language towards Vinicius Jr. Uefa handed him a six‑match ban last month. He has already served a provisional one-game suspension; two more matches are now confirmed, with the remaining three games suspended for two years.

Uefa then asked Fifa to make the sanction worldwide. Football’s governing body agreed, and the consequences now stretch far beyond European competition.

The incident had an even sharper edge in its immediate aftermath. Vinicius initially accused Prestianni of racially abusing him, an allegation the Argentine denied. A racism charge would have triggered a minimum 10-match ban in European competition. Instead, the case was pursued and punished on the grounds of homophobic abuse.

For a player on the cusp of the international stage, the timing is brutal. Prestianni’s Argentina career is barely underway: just a single cap so far, in a friendly against Angola in November 2025. Scaloni called him up again in March, but he stayed on the bench across two more friendlies, still waiting for a real run at the shirt.

Now, even that wait becomes complicated. If Scaloni backs him and takes him to the World Cup, he does so knowing Prestianni will sit out the opening two fixtures. If the coach leaves him at home, the ban will instead carry over to next season’s European campaign, with Benfica still fighting to secure a Champions League or Europa League place.

Either way, the suspension will bite. The only question is where: on the game’s biggest international stage, or on the nights when the Champions League anthem plays and Benfica look around to see who they can truly rely on.