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Egypt crashed out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the round of 16 after a dramatic 3-2 defeat by Argentina in a game that held your breath until the final moments.
But the final whistle did not end the controversy, as refereeing decisions, particularly interventions by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), became the focus of widespread debate among pundits and the media amid accusations that they had been instrumental in undoing the Pharaohs.
The Egyptian team’s adventure in the tournament ended in a dramatic defeat to Argentina, but a refereeing dispute overshadowed the result, after the match witnessed a number of controversial decisions, which sparked major protests in sporting circles.
In this context, former Moroccan referee Abdelali Nachiri criticized the performance of the referee’s video assistant technology during the game, emphasizing in his statements:africafoot:“VAR’s interventions were not fair to the Egyptian team.
Al-Nasri said: “In my opinion, the video assistant referee was harsher towards Egypt than the arena referee himself. He intervened in cases he considered worthy of review, while ignoring other cases in which he should have intervened.”
The former Moroccan referee lamented the use of video technology during the match, believing it did not consistently apply review standards, which was directly reflected in the match.
He added that the Egyptian team did not deserve to play in this manner, noting that the Pharaohs played one of their best matches in the tournament and they deserved a better result if it were not for some refereeing decisions that, according to him, affected the course of the match.
The match witnessed a number of interesting refereeing incidents, most notably the disallowance of an Egyptian goal after the return to video technology, in addition to calls for a foul count in favor of the Pharaohs, which went unanswered by the refereeing team, sparking controversy among analysts and former players in front of wide circles and critics.
