Argentine Admission and Global Consensus on the Referee's Injustice to Egypt's National Team Against the 'Tango'

SadaNews - Some refereeing decisions in the match between Egypt and Argentina in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup sparked controversy, especially the cancellation of a goal scored by Mustafa Zico at the beginning of the second half.

The Argentine national team overturned a two-goal deficit to secure a thrilling 3-2 victory over their Egyptian counterparts in the match held on Tuesday at the Atlanta Stadium, continuing their title defense from the 2022 Qatar edition.

Mustafa Zico scored a goal for the Egyptian team in the 58th minute to extend the Pharaohs' lead, but French referee François Letexier disallowed it after referring to the VAR due to a foul committed by Marwan Atiyah against Argentine defender Lisandro Martínez at the start of the attack.

Incorrect Decision

Former Spanish referee and analyst at "Marca" radio, Eduardo Puro, believes that referee Letexier's decision to disallow Egypt's second goal was incorrect, considering that the foul called on defender Martínez did not significantly affect the flow of the attack.

Puro stated, "Going back to the beginning of the attack to disallow the goal was unjustified. Such fouls do not have enough impact on the goal being scored."

He added, "The Egyptian player carried the ball a long distance, so reverting to a distant moment and calling a foul for a slight foot stomp only seen in slow motion does not suit the nature of the game."

The former referee questioned the validity of the VAR intervention, asserting that the incident did not rise to the level of a "clear and obvious error" that warrants the involvement of the Video Assistant Referee.

He continued: "If the referee had called the foul directly on the field, the decision would have been acceptable, but after allowing play to continue, I see no justification for going back and disallowing the goal."

Former Spanish referee Iturralde González agreed with Puro, confirming that the foul was incorrect and amounted to nothing more than a very minor step, and according to VAR philosophy, it did not deserve review, but should have remained within the discretion of the on-field referee.

He added, "The major problem is that the laws of the game have always been unified worldwide, but since the introduction of VAR, its application varies from tournament to tournament, without a standard criterion, which confuses players and fans due to the differing mechanisms of its application across competitions."

Error Before Fernandez's Goal

The winning goal for Argentina, scored by Enzo Fernandez in stoppage time, also raised some doubts due to a foul committed against Mohamed Salah before the ball reached Lautaro Martinez, who provided the crucial pass to Enzo.

Former Argentine national team star Claudio Lopez said: "Salah was impeded, and the referee should have gone back to VAR to check the incident."

He added in his analysis of the match on beIN Sports: "The ball was behind Salah, and Martinez, who obstructed him, had the ball in front of him. The referee should have gone back to VAR."

Criticism from England Legend

For his part, English football legend Ian Wright believed that Fernandez's goal should have been disallowed due to a foul against Mohamed Salah at the start of the attack.

Wright stated during his analysis of the match on ITV Sport: "This is what happens now with VAR; it reviews previous footage. If you are going back to disallow Argentina's goal due to a foul on the edge of the penalty area, you must also go back to this incident involving Mohamed Salah."

He added, "He was fouled, and although it may have been slight, it was still a foul, and then the attack went the other way."

Source: Foreign Press