Were Egypt Truly 'Robbed' By Argentina? VAR Controversies In FIFA World Cup Match Explained

The Argentina vs Egypt Round of 16 clash in the FIFA World Cup 2026 concluded in absolute chaos. Egypt, who were leading 2-0 until the 78th minute, saw Argentina make a remarkable comeback to win the contest 3-2. But, as far as the Egypt camp is concerned, the referee and VAR team favoured Argentina too much throughout the game, ensuring they did all they could to leave the fightback gates open for them. Egypt coach Hossam Hassan went on an epic rant in the press conference after the match, highlighting multiple incidents he felt unfairly went in Argentina's favour.

While there were many 50-50 calls that Argentina seemed to benefit from, there were two big decisions that played a huge role in defining the complexion of the game.

1. Mostafa Ziko's Disallowed Goal: When Egypt was leading 1-0, midfielder Mostafa Ziko finished off a brilliant counter-attacking move to score what would have given Egypt a 2-0 lead. However, referee Francois Letexier was called to the pitchside monitor by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). He reviewed the footage and disallowed the goal, suggesting Egyptian midfielder Marwan Attia had pulled back Lisandro Martinez and stepped on his foot in the build-up.

However, what is contentious is the fact that the foul took place deep inside Egypt's half while Argentina was actually the team on the attack. Egypt won the ball from that challenge and ran the full length of the pitch to score. Pundits and fans argued that the incident occurred too far back in time (around 10 seconds prior) and too far away (nearly 100 yards).

3. The foul on Licha preceding Egypt's disallowed goal. A clear foul. Attia steps on Lisandro's supporting foot, preventing him from continuing the play. While it's not a high-intensity stomp, it's enough to prevent the advance, as the Argentine can't continue with his stride. pic.twitter.com/4K9kq5lkdg

— MessiStan02 #bagged (@Stan_Incarnated) July 7, 2026

Hence, to claim that it had a role to play in Ziko's goal is questionable. Critics felt that the VAR went too far. Though Ziko made it 2-0 just minutes later, had the previous goal been given, Egypt would've had a much more comfortable 3-0 lead, making a comeback even harder.

2. The Late Penalty Decision: Late in the match, as Egypt looked to make a comeback, a major incident occurred inside the Argentinian penalty box after a total of two penalty shouts were made, one for a challenge on Mohamed Salah by Julian Alvarez. There was a shirt pull on the first player and a and potential foot-on-foot contact by Alvarez on Salah.

The referee, however, did not blow his whistle and waved play on. Even the VAR chose not to intervene, much to the disappointment of the Egypt camp.

This caused immense fury from the Egyptian bench and head coach Hossam Hassan. Critics slammed the refereeing team for extreme inconsistency. Many argued that the VAR was willing to go 100 yards backward to penalise Egypt for a minor offence in the build-up to their goal, but completely ignored the shirt pull on Salah, following which Argentina went on to score their third and final goal of the game.

For critics, it was highly inconsistent to completely ignore a clearer shirt pull and physical contact on Salah inside the box that could have handed Egypt a vital penalty.

This is the penalty people are saying Egypt should've been awarded? pic.twitter.com/iIBqXBQUYq

— S (@8bdrssss) July 7, 2026

This was not all. There were a number of other incidents where Argentinian players seemingly evaded bookings over fouls they had committed. In some instances, the referee's decisions to let play continue looked incredibly harsh. Here's a video compilation of some of those incidents:

Argentina robbing Egypt.

Uploading this again because FIFA removed the video. pic.twitter.com/LtmGKJ3vxp

— - (@LMDiddy14) July 7, 2026

The agony of being denied penalties at the other end of the field turned into a feeling of absolute despair for the Egypt camp as Enzo Fernandez scored the winner for Argentina in stoppage time.

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Topics mentioned in this article

Argentina Messi Egypt 2026 FIFA World Cup Salah J. ALVAREZ Football