Former England striker, Ian Wright, has questioned the decision to allow Argentina’s winning goal in their dramatic 3-2 victory over Egypt, saying it should have been ruled out after a foul in the build-up.
Speaking on ITV Sport, the former Arsenal forward argued that the video assistant referee (VAR) should have reviewed the incident before Enzo Fernandez scored the decisive goal in Argentina’s Round of 16 victory at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Wright said the challenge on Mohamed Salah in the build-up to Fernandez’s late winner deserved the same level of scrutiny that led to Egypt’s earlier goal being disallowed.
“That’s what’s happening with VAR now, they’re pulling it back. If you’re going to pull it back for Argentina on the edge of the box to disallow a goal, you have to pull it back for this one with Mo Salah.
“He’s been caught. Whatever we say, it might be minimal, he’s been caught and then they go up the other end,” Wright said, according to the Daily Mirror.
The match featured several contentious refereeing decisions.
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Earlier in the second half, Mostafa Ziko thought he had extended Egypt’s lead, only for VAR to disallow the goal after identifying a foul on Lisandro Martinez earlier in the attacking move.
Later, Salah went down inside the penalty area following a challenge from Julian Alvarez during the build-up to Argentina’s third goal.
Wright said that incident also warranted a VAR review before play continued.
Egypt looked set for a famous victory after Yasser Ibrahim opened the scoring before Mostafa Ziko doubled the advantage to put the African side 2-0 ahead.
However, Argentina mounted a late comeback through Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi before Fernandez scored the stoppage-time winner to seal a 3-2 victory and send the defending champions into the World Cup quarter-finals.
