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The match witnessed widespread refereeing disputes
The 2026 FIFA World Cup round of 16 match between Argentina and Egypt witnessed one of the most controversial moments when Mostafa Zico’s goal, which would have put Egypt 2-0 up, was disallowed due to an earlier foul on Nicolas Tagliafico.
Egypt took the lead in the first half through Yasser Ibrahim’s goal in the 15th minute after he headed the ball into the net so that Emiliano ‘Debo’ Martinez could only follow the ball as it curled into the net.
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The Mercedes-Benz Stadium erupted in cheers after Zico scored Egypt’s second goal in the 60th minute, but French referee Francois Letexier overruled it after reviewing the video technology and called for an earlier foul by Marwan Attia on Lisandro Martinez.
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And in the program”“Sports Carousel”broadcast on the network “SE Chain:“ In Spanish, referee expert Ituralde González said of Attia and Martinez’s strike. “For me it’s a kick that the referee can count in real time if he wants, but it doesn’t surprise me that VAR intervenes.”
He continued. “I’ve commented on this before. In this World Cup they wanted (VAR) to be very intrusive and we see now that this is the football they want to take us to.”
Gonzalez has already warned that VAR will be “very intrusive” in this tournament, which is indeed the case. Not so much in the group stage, but certainly in the knockout stages, according to“SE Chain:“.
In turn, former Spanish star Kiko Narvaez expressed his extreme anger during the program and said: “This is not football,” he said, referring to Egypt’s disallowed goal.
As for presenter Dani Garrido, he said the disallowed goal was “the most beautiful goal at the 2026 World Cup”, considering Haitham Hassan’s move was similar to Lionel Messi’s move against Croatia in the World Cup semi-final in Qatar (3-0).
Did Egypt deserve a penalty kick?
Although Zico’s second goal in the 67th minute saw Argentina win 3-2 after goals from Christian Romero, Lionel Messi in the 83rd minute and Enzo Fernandez in the 92nd minute.
After Argentina’s third goal, the players of the Egyptian national team demanded a penalty for Mohamed Salah.
But for Ituralde Gonzalez, there is nothing that calls for the punishment that the Egyptian team demanded because “there is no leg (Salah’s leg)”.
The Egyptian national team also called for a free-kick as McAllister pulled down Hamdi Fathi in the box, but the referee’s analyst also saw that it was not a penalty and said: “He puts his hand in, but the ball is gone. This is not the work of the mouse.”
