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The fallout from Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over Egypt at the World Cup continues to grow, with the Egyptian Football Association filing a formal complaint against FIFA over the match’s officiating as social media erupts with allegations that the defending champions received preferential treatment.
The complaint, filed Tuesday, accuses French referee François Letexier and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) team of making a series of decisions that unfairly affected the outcome of the Round of 16 match in Atlanta. Egypt is asking FIFA to investigate the officiating crew and remove them from the remainder of the tournament.
Egypt led 2-0 before Argentina mounted a stunning comeback. The biggest point of contention came when VAR disallowed what would have been Egypt’s second goal after officials ruled a foul had occurred roughly 20 seconds earlier on the opposite side of the field. Later, Egypt was denied a penalty after Mohamed Salah went down in the box moments before Argentina scored the eventual game-winner in stoppage time. Those decisions have drawn criticism from former players, pundits, and the Egyptian Football Association.
After the match, Egypt manager Hossam Hassan accused officials of treating his team unfairly and suggested there were “external factors” influencing the result.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play,” Hassan said after the match. “Perhaps they wanted the world champion to stay in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.”
Even former Spanish referee Eduardo Itarrulde weighed in, telling Spanish publication Diario AS, “It would not normally have been reviewed.
“Since the start of the knockout rounds, we have seen excessive VAR intervention…whether we like it or not, we have to get used to it. I was only mildly surprised, and under the usual interpretation of VAR, it would \not normally be reviewed; it would be left to the referee’s discretion.”
While Egypt’s formal protest has centered on refereeing and VAR, the controversy has taken on a life of its own online.
One of the most widely shared videos appears to show Argentine music producer Bizarrap, who presented the Player of the Match award, beginning to say he had been told the previous day he would give the trophy to Lionel Messi before stopping himself and correcting the statement to “whoever the player of the match is.” The clip has been viewed millions of times, although there is no evidence that the award had been predetermined, and the video has circulated largely without additional context.
Another viral claim centers on Hassan’s use of FIFA’s crossed-arms “X” gesture, which is intended to report racist abuse and trigger FIFA’s three-step anti-racism protocol. Social media users allege Hassan was shown a yellow card instead of having the protocol activated, though FIFA has not publicly addressed the incident.
Videos shared across X also purported to show security personnel searching Egyptian supporters while allowing Argentine fans to enter without similar checks. The circumstances surrounding those clips have not been independently verified.
Other viral posts claim that FIFA has been removing videos criticizing the officiating. FIFA and its broadcast partners routinely issue copyright takedown requests for unauthorized match footage, and there is no public evidence that videos were removed for calling out unfair tournament officials.
Egypt’s protest isn’t unprecedented. Algeria filed its own complaint with FIFA after its opening-round loss to Argentina, arguing officials failed to punish Messi for appearing to stamp on defender Aïssa Mandi and overlooked another potentially card-worthy challenge. The latest complaint is likely to intensify scrutiny of officiating involving the defending champions as they head into the quarterfinals.
FIFA had not returned a New Times request for comment or publicly responded to Egypt’s complaint as of this reporting.
