Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over Egypt in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 was hailed as another classic of the tournament, but the result was overshadowed by major refereeing controversies that left the Egyptian camp fuming after the final whistle. The defending champions were trailing 2-0 until the 67th minute before producing a stunning late comeback. Cristian Romero started the revival in the 79th minute, Lionel Messi Level four minutes later and Enzo Fernandez scored in stoppage time to send Argentina to the quarter-finals. As Argentina celebrated another memorable World Cup escape, Egypt were handed two crucial moments that they believed changed the course of the contest. The first came in the 59th minute, when Mostafa Ziko thought he had doubled Egypt’s lead after finishing a fluid move. However, following a VAR review, the goal was ruled out after the officials deemed there had been a foul earlier in the attacking phase. Instead of going 2-0 up at that stage, Egypt had to wait until the 67th minute for Ziko to score a second time, with that effort placed after another quick counter-attack. The Egyptian camp was also angered by the accumulation of Argentina’s winner in stoppage time. The players and coaching staff felt that Alexis Mac Allister had committed a foul in the attacking move before the ball eventually fell to Enzo Fernandez, who calmly slotted home the decisive goal. After the match, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan questioned the result and the officiating, insisting his team deserved more of the contest. “I’m not convinced with this result. I’m not convinced with the way things developed during this match,” said Hassan. “I don’t want to try to put it well here with a beautiful wording, a selected sentence, and fortune telling and so on and so forth.” “We were treated unfairly today. We suffered injustice.” Striker Mostafa Ziko echoed those sentiments, accusing the officials of denying Egypt a famous victory after their first goal was ruled out by VAR. “No fair, no fair, referee, no fair. Injustice, clear and obvious injustice. It is wasting the efforts of a whole country. From the beginning of the match, it was against us. We are not allowed to leave as 2-0 winners against Argentina. The tournament is fixed. God is enough for us, and he is the best disposed of the business”. Argentina, meanwhile, hailed another remarkable comeback after seeing themselves destined for elimination. “We have a phenomenal group, a group that never gives up, no matter the difficulties and adversity. We are always together,” said match winner Enzo Fernandez. Striker Julian Alvarez added: “Argentinians’ heart is always something that pushes, that we follow in any way, that we give everything until the end. And honestly, with the score 2-0, we seemed a little beaten. There was little time, but we still managed to get something more by fighting until the end.” The win sends Argentina into the quarter-finals, where they will face Switzerland after surviving one of the most controversial and dramatic games of the tournament so far.
