Controversy surrounding the Egypt-Argentina match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup
Egyptian national football team played against Argentinian national football team In Atlanta, United States on July 7, 2026, in the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup. The match ended with Argentina winning in the final minutes. This match became controversial on social media and in the press after the Egyptian national team accused the match officials, particularly referee François Letexier, of bias towards Argentina and overlooking their mistakes during the match, which affected the outcome.
Match referee
The referee for the match was 37-year-old Frenchman François Letexier.
The Egyptian Football Association filed an official complaint with FIFA requesting an investigation into the referee's decisions, which the Egyptian national team considers biased and incomprehensible.
Pierluigi Collina, FIFA's chief referee, rejected accusations of bias and insisted on the integrity of the referees.
Alleged refereeing bias
Members of the Egyptian national team—led by head coach Hossam Hassan—and the Egyptian Football Association, objected to several of the referee's decisions, viewing them as mistakes and acts of bias that should not have occurred.
Egyptian goal disallowed after VAR review
In the 58nd minute, Mostafa Zico scored what would have been Egypt's second goal, making it 2-0. After the goal was initially awarded, the VAR intervened to review the start of the attack. Following the review, the goal was disallowed, as Marwan Attia had fouled an Argentinian player before the ball reached Mohamed Salah, who then passed it to Zico for the goal. The Egyptian team protested the decision, arguing that the foul occurred in midfield and did not directly affect the goal. They also pointed out that the attack continued with several passes before the ball reached Zico, thus making the disallowed goal unjustified.
Former England goalkeeper Robert Green argued that a player stepping on someone's foot 100 yards from the goal is not the reason VAR was introduced to football, saying "Reviewing this certainly does not fall within the remit of VAR."
Jamie Carragher questioned the consistency of the decision, stating that if the same situation had occurred with another team in the English, Spanish, or Italian leagues, it would have been awarded as a goal even after a VAR review.
A sports analyst described the touch as an indisputable infringement, but the question remains as to how far back VAR should go to verify the validity of the goal; he also questioned whether the goal would have been disallowed had it been scored by an Argentine player.
FIFA Referees Committee Chairman Pierluigi Collina defended the decision, explaining that stepping on an opponent's foot constitutes an infringement, whereas touching the ball first followed by natural contact does not; he noted that the footage shows Attia "clearly stepping" on Martinez's foot. Collina confirmed that VAR reviews the entire attacking possession phase following every goal to check for any infringement that influenced the goal, noting that an infringement remains an infringement regardless of whether it appears obvious; if the on-field referee misses it, VAR is entitled to intervene.
Egypt denied penalty kick
In the second half, the Egyptian players and coaching staff appealed for a penalty kick after Hamdy Fathy went down inside the Argentine penalty area following a challenge from Alexis Mac Allister. The referee waved play on and did not award a penalty. The Egyptian team protested, arguing that the challenge prevented Hamdy Fathy from continuing the attack and warranted a penalty kick, or at least a VAR review of the incident.
Several commentators viewed the two incidents—the disallowance of Zico’s goal and the failure to award a penalty for Fathi—as implying that if Zico’s goal was ruled out due to slight contact, the same standard should have been applied prior to Enzo Fernández’s decisive goal.
Possible foul in build up to Argentina's winning goal
Before Argentina scored the winning goal in stoppage time, Mohamed Salah was involved in a challenge with Julián Alvarez, in what the Egyptian team considered a clear foul. The referee didn't blow his whistle, and the attack continued until the ball reached Lautaro Martínez, who crossed it for Enzo Fernández to head home the winning goal. The Egyptian team protested because the referee disallowed their goal for a foul at the start of their attack, but didn't apply the same standard to Argentina's attack that preceded the winning goal.
Ian Wright, the former Arsenal striker, compared the situation to the incident where Zico’s goal was disallowed, saying: "If you’re going to disallow a goal for a minor foul on the edge of the box, then this situation involving Mohamed Salah should also be taken into account; he was fouled—and no matter what we say, the impact might have been slight, but the contact was there—and then they went down the other end and scored."
An analyst for The National suggested that Salah was fishing for a penalty rather than suffering a genuine foul; the contact was a "foot-to-foot" clash resulting from the players' momentum, and had Salah stayed on his feet, Egypt might well still be in the tournament.
Emam Ashour touched on the face
In the 43rd minute of the match, Argentina defender Nahuel Molina touched Egypt's main midfielder, Emam Ashour, in the face on the field, without the referee or VAR intervening to review the incident, despite the demands of the Egyptian national team players.
Inequality in the use of VAR technology
The Egyptian national team objected to the use of VAR during the match, arguing that it intervened to disallow Mostafa Zico's goal after a lengthy review, while it did not intervene in the same manner when Hamdy Fathy fell inside the penalty area or when Mohamed Salah was fouled before Argentina's third goal. The team considered this a discrepancy in the application of standards between the two sides.
Hossam Hassan discrimination gesture
In the final minutes, the Technical Director of the Egyptian National Football Team Hossam Hassan made an X with his arms while protesting against referee François Letexier. Speculation arose that the gesture was a report of racist abuse, as FIFA has adopted this gesture as part of its anti-racism protocol.
If the referee is aware of racism he must do the following:
- Stop the match: The referee temporarily stops the match. Announces over the loudspeakers that there has been a racist incident and demands that it be stopped.
- Suspend the match: If the abuse continues after play resumes, the referee suspends the match. The players and officials leave for the dressing rooms.
- Abandon the match: If the abuse continues despite the suspension, the referee decides to abandon the match and not complete it
No evidence of actual racism had been reported and instead, the referee gave Hossam Hassan a yellow card.
Post-match statements
Hossam Hassan said in a brief statement after the match that he would speak frankly without fear of consequences: "This was an unfair match. A goal of ours was disallowed. I don't know why. Could FIFA be doing this for marketing purposes? They want to keep the World Cup champions in the tournament, but if they want Argentina to win, why did they invite us to play?"
Hossam also stated that he hates losing—especially when it is unfair—but he is proud of what his team achieved; the squad is drawn primarily from the domestic league, unlike other teams that come from professional environments, yet Egypt was able to compete with any team.
Meanwhile, player Mustafa Abdel Raouf (Ziko) openly declared, while crying, that the match was unfair and that the refereeing had wasted the efforts of an entire nation, and he congratulated Argentina and the referee on their victory.
Mosalah said “I know you’re still upset, but I promise you that I’ll do everything in my power to ensure this marks a fresh start for Egyptian football on the international stage,”.
The Egyptian Football Association has renewed the contract of Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan until 2030.
There has been no response from the Argentine side regarding these allegations.
Match fans
Security personnel at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta searched Egyptian fans but not Argentinian fans.
Egyptian fans were subjected to violence and racism, with one fan recording a video documenting Argentinian fans throwing beer at Egyptian fans for no reason as he said. Additionally, some Argentinian fans waved an Israeli flag in front of the Egyptian coaching staff as they left the field.