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A goal disallowed by VAR, yellow cards for Egypt and different opinions from both referees ended the game.
Published on 7 Jul 2026
Argentina’s World Cup hopes are still alive, but they were tarnished by controversial refereeing decisions as the players prevailed as Egypt battled valiantly at the Atlanta Stadium.
The internationals trailed the Pharaohs before completing a 3-2 win in their last 16 tie on Tuesday.
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With less than a third of time remaining, Egypt almost lost the world’s best as they took a 2-0 lead despite having a goal disallowed.
Cristian Romero’s header broke the deadlock in the 79th minute and four minutes later, Lionel Messi scored his eighth goal of the tournament to make it 2-2 and maintain Argentina’s title defense.
Enzo Fernandez sealed the deal for the South Americans in the third minute of stoppage time when he got on the end of a cross from Lautaro Martinez and headed into the bottom corner to complete a stunning three-goal turnaround in 13 minutes.
What was the VAR controversy in the Argentina vs Egypt World Cup match?
Egypt will forever be remembered for giving Argentina their money’s worth, but it was unfair after the video assistant referee (VAR) decision disallowed Mostafa Ziko’s goal as Egypt won 1-0, although he later found the back of the net to make it 2-0.
Ziko was at the end of a successful match against Egypt when Salah put the ball in front of the goal and the number 11 put it in close. He then started a wild celebration, taking off his shirt as he ran, but Egypt’s joy turned to sadness minutes later when VAR spotted an error in the goal setting, ruling it out.
Commentators on the game had previously said that the decision was beyond VAR, but the decision can be interpreted differently according to the International Football Association Board’s (IFAB), Laws of the Game.
VAR can be used “during the game before and after an incident that can be reviewed is determined by the Laws of the Game and the VAR protocol,” according to IFAB rules.
In addition, evaluations are allowed for “attacking the team when building or scoring a goal (handball, foul, offside etc).”
How many yellow cards were given in Argentina vs Egypt?
The Pharaohs’ good run was disrupted after Argentina took the lead, with the referee issuing yellow card after yellow card to Mohamed Salah’s side.
The first one was awarded to goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir, then Hamdi Fathy, then another to Marwan Attia for a foul.
Egypt felt they deserved a penalty before the end and appealed to no avail, apart from head coach Hossam Hassan being shown a yellow card for an altercation with a player as talisman and captain Salah tried to mediate in the heat of the moment.
What happened after the full time whistle in the Argentina vs Egypt match?
Salah’s team were shocked when the referee blew the final whistle for the 35-year-old’s final game in Egypt on the biggest stage.
Elsewhere on the field, Salah’s Argentine teammate was in tears; Messi scored his 21st World Cup goal to not only equalize but to inspire Argentina to a stunning comeback and progress to the quarterfinals.
