Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Egypt in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 was hailed as another tournament classic, but the result was overshadowed by major refereeing controversies that left the Egyptian camp fuming after the final whistle. The defending champions trailed 2-0 until the 67th minute before producing a stunning late turnaround. Cristian Romero started the revival in the 79th minute, Lionel Messi levelled four minutes later and Enzo Fernandez struck in stoppage time to send Argentina into the quarter-finals. While Argentina celebrated another memorable World Cup escape, Egypt were left questioning two crucial moments that they believed changed the course of the contest. The first came in the 59th minute when Mostafa Ziko thought he had doubled Egypt’s lead after finishing off a flowing move. However, following a VAR review, the goal was ruled out after officials deemed there had been a foul earlier in the attacking phase. Instead of moving 2-0 ahead at that stage, Egypt had to wait until the 67th minute for Ziko to score a second time, with that effort standing after another swift counterattack. The Egyptian camp was also angered by the build-up to Argentina’s stoppage-time winner. Players and coaching staff felt Alexis Mac Allister had committed a foul in the attacking move before the ball eventually fell to Enzo Fernandez, who calmly slotted home the decisive goal. After the match, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan questioned both the result and the officiating, insisting his side deserved more from the contest. “I’m not convinced with this outcome. I’m not convinced with the way things unfolded during this match,” Hassan said. “I do not want to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording, selected wording, and saying hard luck and so on and so forth.” “We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice.” Forward Mostafa Ziko echoed those sentiments, accusing the officials of denying Egypt a famous victory after his first goal was chalked off by VAR. “No fair, no fair, referee, no fair. Injustice, clear and obvious injustice. He is wasting the efforts of an entire country. From the start of the match, he was against us. It is not allowed for us to leave as 2-0 winners against Argentina. The tournament is fixed. God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs.” Argentina, meanwhile, hailed another remarkable comeback after looking destined for elimination. “We have a phenomenal group, a group that never gives up no matter the difficulties and adversity. We’re always together,” said match-winner Enzo Fernandez. Striker Julian Alvarez added: “The heart of Argentinians is always something that pushes, that we keep going no matter what, that we give everything until the end. And honestly, with the score 2-0, we looked a bit beaten. There was little time left, but we always manage to get something more by fighting until the end.” The victory sends Argentina into the quarter-finals, where they will face Switzerland after surviving one of the most controversial and dramatic matches of the tournament so far.
