'Penalty ruled out, goal disallowed': Egypt coach blasts referee after Argentina defeat

Egypt's 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the 2026 World Cup round of 16 prompted accusations of biased officiating from the Egyptian camp after the defending champions overturned a two-goal deficit with three goals in the final 14 minutes to reach the quarter-finals.

Egypt led 2-0 until the 79th minute before Argentina mounted a comeback to secure a place in the last eight, where they will face the winner of the Switzerland-Colombia match.

The Egyptian team disputed several refereeing decisions, including the disallowing of a goal by Mostafa Ziko following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review that cited a foul in the build-up, says WION.

Egypt also appealed for a penalty deep into stoppage time after Hamdy Fathy appeared to be fouled inside the penalty area. The referee did not award a penalty or conduct an on-field VAR review. Argentina then scored the winning goal through Enzo Fernandez on the ensuing attack.

Speaking after the match, Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan said his side had been treated unfairly.

"We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice," Hassan said.

"We haven't seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out and a second (incident) that should have been checked for a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR. A second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed."

Hassan also suggested the referee had been influenced by Argentina's players.

"There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome."

He criticised the scheduling of the match, saying: "Whoever schedules these matches is someone who has never played football. You never schedule a football match at 12 noon."

Hassan said he would leave the tournament following Egypt's elimination, reports News18.

"I'm going home and won't be watching any more games from the tournament."

He also questioned the integrity of the contest.

"I will say what's on my mind regardless of the consequence; this was clearly a rigged match, and the whole world saw it."

"And I want to say one more thing, if they want them [Argentina] to win so bad, why call everyone to come and participate?"

Forward Mostafa Ziko also criticised the officiating, saying: "It was not fair from the referee. It was really not fair, that was very clear. He wasted all of our efforts with his decisions."

Ziko apologised to Egypt supporters after the defeat.

"We are so sorry (to the people of Egypt). I am so sorry. We wanted to make you all happy. It was not in the cards. It was the referee. The cup is directed towards Argentina."

He added: "This game is rigged."

"Congratulations to Argentina on the World Cup; the tournament was rigged; they didn't need anything else."