Egypt have asked Fifa to remove the officials from their World Cup last-16 defeat, alleging “serious refereeing mistakes” and “double standards” after Argentina came from two goals down to win 3-2 in stoppage time. The African nation, who led 2-0 with 11 minutes to play and were on the brink of a historic quarter-final, saw their exit overshadowed by a formal complaint against French referee Francois Letexier and his team.
“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running,” said Egypt coach Hossam Hassan, who was booked for protesting Argentina’s winner. Hassan said Egypt had been “treated unfairly” and “suffered injustice”.
“Egypt demand Fifa kick out officials over 'serious mistakes' and 'double standards' in Argentina World Cup defeat.”
Egypt’s grievances centre on three incidents. Mostafa Zico had a brilliant equaliser ruled out by VAR because Marwan Attia was penalised for stepping on Lisandro Martinez’s foot at the start of the move. At 1-0, Egypt later scored a second goal, but they still believe the game would have taken a different path had Zico’s goal stood. Then, with Argentina pushing for a winner, Egypt claimed two penalties: Hamdi Fathy went down claiming he was held by Alexis Mac Allister – unclear on replays – and Mohamed Salah felt he was tripped by Julian Alvarez. “There were some similarities between the Martinez and Salah situations, with foot-on-foot contact, but not enough to constitute a penalty,” BBC Sport noted. Finally, Egypt argued that Enzo Fernandez’s headed winner should have been disallowed.
Argentina, the defending champions, had already needed a late fightback against Cape Verde in the round of 16, winning 3-2. Against Egypt, they stormed back from 2-0 down in the final minutes before Fernandez scored in stoppage time. The result keeps Lionel Messi’s title defence alive, but the controversy has triggered an official complaint from Egypt demanding an investigation. Fifa have yet to respond publicly.
The incident raises uncomfortable questions about favouritism, with Hassan’s allegation that “everything is being set up for Argentina to succeed” now formally lodged. Whether the officials will be removed from the tournament remains uncertain.