Argentina’s qualification to the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup was marked by controversy after the Egypt coach, Hossam Hassanand the forward Mostafa Ziko publicly questioned the refereeing and use of VAR after the 3-2 loss in Atlanta.
Egypt went 0-2 on the scoreboard, but Argentina reacted with three goals in 13 minutes and got their ticket to the next round.
After the match, Hassan assured that the referee’s decisions conditioned the tie and denounced an alleged favoring of Argentina.
“There seemed to have been pressure from Argentina on the referee. We left for commercial reasons… They want Messi to stay in the tournament!” stated the Egyptian coach.
The coach also maintained that the result was influenced by decisions outside the game.
“I will say what I think regardless of the consequences. This match was clearly rigged and everyone saw it. They robbed us; we have suffered an injustice,” he said.
Ziko also criticized the refereeing
Mostafa Ziko, scorer of Egypt’s second goal in the 67th minute, also questioned the referee’s performance. The forward had previously celebrated another score, but the VAR annulled it when it detected a foul at the beginning of the play.
“They didn’t need anything else… the referee was unfair, unfair, unfair, unfair. The Cup is directed towards Argentina,” Ziko declared.
The Egyptian attacker also summarized his annoyance on social networks with a message in English in which he ironically congratulated Argentina and described the tournament as “rigged.”
The plays that generated complaints
The Egyptian protests focused mainly on the disallowance of Ziko’s goal and several referee decisions during the Argentine comeback.
The African team claimed the judgment of referee François Letexier and the VAR in a match that went from having Egypt with a two-goal advantage to ending with Argentina classified for the quarterfinals.
FIFA has not commented
As of press time, FIFA had not publicly responded to the accusations from the Egyptian coaching staff or players.
Argentina advanced to the quarterfinals, where it will face the winner of the duel between Colombia and Switzerland, while Egypt closed its best World Cup participation after reaching a direct elimination round for the first time.