World Cup 2026: Egypt FA questions refereeing after dramatic defeat by Argentina

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has criticised the officiating of French referee François Letexier and the use of the video assistant referee (VAR) following Egypt’s dramatic 3-2 defeat by Argentina in the last 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The seven-time African champions saw their hopes of reaching a first-ever World Cup quarter-final ended on Tuesday at Atalanta Stadium after surrendering a two-goal lead to the defending champions.

In a statement issued after the match, the EFA said the refereeing performance had “raised many questions” and vowed to pursue all measures available under FIFA regulations to safeguard the national team’s rights.

Central to Egypt’s complaints was a first-half VAR intervention that ruled out what would have been the opening goal of the match.

Mostafa “Zico” appeared to have given the Pharaohs the lead after finishing off a well-worked move, only for the goal to be overturned following a review. VAR officials determined that there had been a foul on Argentina defender Lisandro Martínez earlier in the build-up, prompting referee François Letexier to disallow the strike.

The decision sparked anger among Egypt’s players and supporters, many of whom argued that the incident did not justify cancelling what they believed was a legitimate goal.

Despite the setback, Egypt recovered impressively, with Zico eventually finding the net again as the Pharaohs raced into a 2-0 lead and looked on course to secure one of the biggest victories in the nation’s football history.

Argentina, however, mounted a remarkable comeback befitting the reigning world champions.

Cristian Romero pulled one goal back to revive Argentina’s hopes before captain Lionel Messi levelled the contest with his eighth goal of the tournament, redeeming himself after earlier seeing a penalty saved.

The momentum shifted decisively in Argentina’s favour, and Enzo Fernández completed the turnaround with the winning goal, sealing a 3-2 victory and ending Egypt’s memorable World Cup campaign.

The defeat brought to an end Egypt’s deepest run at a FIFA World Cup, with the Pharaohs narrowly missing out on a historic place in the quarter-finals despite producing one of their most impressive performances of the tournament.

Argentina will now continue the defence of their world title with a quarter-final meeting against Switzerland at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. The match is scheduled to kick off at 01:00 GMT as Lionel Scaloni’s side bid to move one step closer to retaining the trophy.