A match in the World Cup round of 16 between Argentina and Egypt turned into a refereeing scandal. Were the officials’ decisions truly incorrect? Find out in this report by RBC Sport.
In the World Cup round of 16 match against Egypt, Argentina not only came back from a 0-2 deficit within 13 minutes but also scored the winning goal (3:2). Lionel Messi was the standout player of the game.
However, this victory has a flip side. Many experts deemed the officiating biased: Egypt was penalized for nearly every infraction, while Argentina got away with much more. The match was overseen by a crew led by French referee François Letexier.
The following incidents raised questions:
- In the 17th minute, Leandro Paredes pushed Mohamed Salah in the back near the penalty area. The referee did not call a foul.
- Cristian Romero disrupted an attack in the 21st minute by tripping Ashour. The Egypt coach, who openly expressed dissatisfaction with this decision, received a yellow card.
- In the 29th minute, Enzo Fernández fouled Salah in the center of the field, but play continued. A similar episode occurred when Molina blocked Ashour from receiving the ball.
- Cristian Romero harshly stopped Salah, breaking up an Egyptian attack in the 46th minute. Despite repeated infractions by the Argentine, the referee did not issue him a single card.
- In the 58th minute, Egypt’s second goal was disallowed after a video review. The referee made this call because the counterattack that led to the goal had started with a foul by an Egyptian defender at the opposite end of the field.
- In the 92nd minute, Julián Álvarez clipped Salah inside the penalty area. However, the referee deemed it no foul and did not award a penalty to Argentina. Right after this incident, Enzo Fernández scored the winning goal.
Following the loss, the Egyptian side sharply criticized the officiating.
Egypt’s head coach Hossam Hassan believes that the referee’s actions influenced the match outcome. “I am convinced by neither this result nor how the match unfolded. The referee was unfair. He is destroying the efforts of an entire country. The Cup is being steered toward Argentina,” Hassan told The Athletic.
After the match, the Egyptian Football Association filed an official protest with FIFA, calling referee François Letexier’s performance a decisive factor in Argentina’s victory. The Egyptians are demanding an investigation into the match’s controversial moments and the suspension of the French officiating crew from the tournament.
What referees are saying about the match:
Former Spanish referee Eduardo Iturralde González stated that since the start of the World Cup knockout stages, the VAR system has become overly intrusive – “we’ll have to get used to it.”
“This was a very minor step [on the Argentine Martínez’s foot], and according to VAR philosophy, the episode likely shouldn’t be reviewed but rather considered the head referee’s decision,” he noted in an interview with As.
He also emphasized that the main issue is the lack of a consistent VAR usage criterion, which has made previously universal rules subject to varying interpretations, causing confusion among players and fans.
Ex-referee Alfonso Pérez Burrull noted that the incident where an Egyptian stepped on an opponent’s foot was not critically significant. “In an episode where a player crosses the entire field, rewinding the video so far back and calling a foul for a step [on the foot] in slow motion is disproportionate,” he told Marca.
He pointed out that this incident was not an “obvious, clear, or glaring” mistake, so the referee should not have stopped play and gone back to review it.
Former England striker Alan Shearer called the situation of rewinding the game 100 meters to disallow one of the tournament’s best goals “complete nonsense.”
“Either both infractions are fouls, or neither is. But we were told there would be no double-checking,” he added on his X social media page.
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright argued that with this approach, Argentina’s winning goal should also be disallowed—for a foul on Egyptian player Salah.
“If you go back to an incident near the penalty area to disallow a goal for Argentina, you must do the same for Mohamed Salah. He was touched. Whatever we say about minimal contact, a foul occurred, and then they [the Argentines] launched a counterattack,” he was quoted by The Mirror.
Ex-FIFA referee Fernando Guerrero stated that the referee and VAR were wrong to disallow Egypt’s goal.
“If they considered this a foul, then it’s not a foul in the attacking phase because the Argentine team had plenty of time, space, and their defenders were well-positioned. They had three chances to win the ball but failed. … VAR is wrong along with the referee; they are harming Egypt, and the team is eliminated,” he wrote on his X page.
BBC journalist and officiating expert Dale Johnson noted that disallowing Egypt’s goal goes against the general officiating principles adopted in this tournament.
“You cannot allow a minimal touch to not be called a foul, and then disallow a goal via VAR because a player barely touched an opponent’s shirt,” he wrote on his X page.
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