Egypt have formally lodged a complaint with FIFA following their dramatic FIFA World Cup Round of 16 defeat to Argentina, calling for an investigation into the officiating and requesting that the match officials be removed from the remainder of the tournament.
The defending champions staged a remarkable late comeback in Atlanta on Tuesday, overturning a two-goal deficit to secure a 3-2 victory and advance to the quarter-finals, where they will face Switzerland.
Argentina trailed 2-0 with just 11 minutes remaining before Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernández scored in quick succession to complete the turnaround and eliminate the Pharaohs.
However, the encounter was overshadowed by a series of contentious refereeing decisions that have sparked outrage from the Egyptian camp.
The most controversial incident came moments before Argentina’s winning goal when Egypt appealed for a penalty after Julian Alvarez challenged Mohamed Salah inside the penalty area. Replays appeared to show contact with Salah’s foot before Alvarez won the ball.
Egypt also claimed Alexis Mac Allister fouled Hamdi Fathy during the same sequence, but neither incident was reviewed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). Argentina immediately launched a counterattack, culminating in Fernández’s decisive goal.
Earlier in the match, Egypt had a goal ruled out after Zico finished off a swift counterattack. Following a VAR review, the goal was disallowed for a foul on Lisandro Martínez in the build-up.
According to Argentine outlet TyC Sports, Egyptian Football Association President Hany Abo Rida has submitted a formal complaint to FIFA, demanding an investigation into the disputed decisions.
As part of the complaint, Egypt is seeking the removal of French referee François Letexier and his officiating team from the remainder of the World Cup.
The Egyptian Football Association is specifically requesting a review of the disallowed goal and the two incidents that occurred shortly before Argentina’s winning goal.
FIFA has yet to respond publicly to the complaint.
Following the match, Egyptian players and coaching staff strongly criticised the officiating, accusing the referee of bias and suggesting the competition favoured the defending champions.
“The referee wasn’t good; he was unfair. His injustice was clear. He persecuted us from the start of the match. He didn’t want us to win,” said Zico, who saw one goal disallowed before scoring later in the second half.
“It was a rigged game. It wasn’t our fault. We were winning 2-0, and he kept coming at us.
“Congratulations to Argentina on another World Cup, it seems.”
Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan also questioned the officiating, alleging that factors beyond his team’s control influenced the outcome.
“We looked better than the reigning champions—better in every aspect—but the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it,” he said.
“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to remain in the tournament.”
Neither FIFA nor the match officials have commented on the allegations. Argentina, meanwhile, will continue their title defence against Switzerland in the quarter-finals.