Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Egypt topped their best ever World Cup result with 12 minutes of normal time remaining.
The Pharaohs lead reigning world champions Argentina 2-0 at the Atlanta Stadium.
A quarter-final spot – their first – beckons for the football-mad African nation.
Then it went wrong. Terrible mistake.
When Christian Romero reduced the deficit in the 79th minute, it was a case of Egypt digging in. But captain Lionel Messi – who else? – It made it 2-2 after four minutes.
Enzo Fernandez then completed a remarkable turnaround with a header in the second minute of stoppage-time.
Egypt was down and out – and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was immediately furious after Mustafa Zico’s second goal was disallowed for a foul on midfielder Marwan Atiyah when Lisandro Martinez was penalized for a slight step on Lisandro Martinez early in the move, when they were 1-0 up.
They were also adamant Mohamed Salah was fouled in the Argentine penalty area, seconds before the break to seal victory for the reigning champions.
“There’s a lot of inconsistency at the moment with VAR and decisions and how far back you go to make decisions,” Egyptian football expert Ahmed Youssef told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Such a long distance was covered and the foul was very few so I can fully understand why the Egyptian coaching staff and squad are so disappointed.”
When French referee Francois Letexia signaled full time, many of Egypt’s players fell to the floor in disbelief at what had just happened.
Salah swapped shirts with his former Liverpool team-mate Alexis McAllister before walking off the pitch with his head bowed, while other players stood there shaking their heads.
“There were so many subplots and stories in this game,” said former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who was on the ground for BBC Radio 5 Live.
This match had everything – a penalty save, a disallowed goal, a red card as well as a thrilling comeback.
BBC Sport revealed a game that will go down in World Cup history for featuring a team who trailed by two goals so late on, but who won without needing extra time.
