The Egyptian Football Association released a lengthy statement on Wednesday, calling out FIFA for “controversial and influential refereeing incidents” during Egypt’s 3-2 loss to Argentina on Tuesday.
Egypt held on to a 2-0 lead late, but Argentina began a stunning comeback with a goal in the 79th minute. Less than five minutes later, Lionel Messi scored a second goal for Argentina and tied it 2-2.
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Two minutes into stoppage time, Enzo Fernández scored the game-winning goal to push Argentina ahead 3-2. Now, the Egyptian FA is dissatisfied with how the referees handled the match.
“The Egyptian Football Association cannot remain silent regarding the refereeing decisions witnessed during the match against Argentina as well as the failure to make appropriate use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system,” the statement read.
“Several key incidents raised serious concerns and left profound questions about the consistency and fairness of decisions that directly influenced the course of the game. What occurred during the match has understandably generated widespread frustration among our players, staff, and supporters, who expected the highest standards of officiating on football’s biggest stage.”
The biggest call in question came in the 59th minute of the matchup, when VAR review disallowed an Egyptian goal due to an uncalled foul that occurred roughly 20 seconds prior to scoring.
In fairness, the outcome of the game could have easily been different if Egypt’s goal had been upheld.
After the match, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan suggested that FIFA wanted Messi to advance to the quarterfinals.
“We looked better than the reigning champions — better in everything — but the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it,” he said. “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.”
As of publication, FIFA has not commented on these statements.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
