FIFA responded to the controversy of the Egypt-Argentina match.

The International Football Federation (FIFA) has broken its silence on the controversy surrounding the 2026 World Cup final between Egypt and Argentina, after the refereeing team was accused of influencing the outcome of the match, which it described as “fixed” or “fixed in favor of the champion”.

Egypt bowed out of the tournament after a dramatic 2-3 loss to Argentina, despite leading by two goals until the 76th minute, before Argentina turned the score around in the dying minutes.

Several refereeing decisions angered the players and the Egyptian coaching staff, most notably disallowing Egypt’s goal for a foul early in the attack, in addition to refusing to award a penalty to Mohamed Salah before Argentina’s winning goal, prompting a number of Egyptian players and coaching staff to criticize the refereeing.

Mustafa Zico described the tournament as “rigged” in Argentina’s favour, while technical director Hossam Hassan said there are people who want Argentina and Lionel Messi to stay in the tournament for marketing reasons.

Colina answers

Italian Pierluigi Collina, the president of FIFA’s refereeing committee, responded to these accusations, defending French referee Francois Letxer and his refereeing staff.

Colina said in a statement. Official FIFA website“To start with, we have played 50% more matches so far than in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, and there are still 8 big matches to go.”

“Overall, we’re happy with the level of refereeing, but with so many matches in such a short space of time, it’s only natural that some things don’t always go as expected. When that happens, the referees are more willing to work harder to be the best they can be for the next match.”

He continued. “Constructive debate about refereeing decisions will always be part of football, but accusations that are not based on any evidence have no place in our sport.”

Colina stressed that the integrity of the referees should not be questioned, saying: “No one has the right to question the integrity of the referees of the World Cup matches. When that happens, it can lead to reactions that threaten referees and their families, and that’s unacceptable.”

He added: “No one can claim that the FIFA Referees Committee is under any influence, not even by FIFA President Gianni Infantino. He has always given us his full support, making sure that we operate with complete independence.”

He added: “Referees make their decisions with integrity and, as with players and coaches, they always strive to give their best.”