The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has formally asked FIFA to investigate the officiating of Egypt’s 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 defeat to Argentina and remove the match officials from the remainder of the tournament.
In a statement, the EFA said it had lodged a complaint with world football’s governing body, accusing the refereeing team of applying “double standards” during Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat in Atlanta.
The complaint follows a match in which Egypt surrendered a two-goal lead before Argentina completed a dramatic comeback to book a place in the quarter-finals.
EFA alleges refereeing errors
The EFA’s complaint centres on two key incidents.
With Egypt leading 1-0 in the second half, a goal by Mostafa Zico was ruled out after the video assistant referee (VAR) advised that midfielder Marwan Attia had stepped on Lisandro Martinez’s foot earlier in the attacking move.
Egypt also believed Mohamed Salah should have been awarded a penalty after he went down in Argentina’s penalty area shortly before the South American side launched the attack that produced Enzo Fernandez’s stoppage-time winner.
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An EFA statement said, “Hany Abou Rida, president of the Egyptian football federation, filed a complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into the French referee Francois Letexier after the serious refereeing mistakes committed by the team of referees and double standards, which caused the Egypt team to lose the match and leave the World Cup.”
The federation also called for an investigation into both the on-field officials and VAR team over what it described as “blatant errors and insisting on not reviewing some of the footage.”
It further demanded “the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes” and alleged “the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team.”
Officials come under criticism
Egypt, who have never reached the World Cup quarter-finals, saw their hopes dashed after Lionel Messi inspired Argentina’s comeback.
The Argentina captain created Cristian Romero’s goal before scoring the equaliser himself, with Fernandez heading home the winner in stoppage time.
After the match, Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan questioned the officiating.
“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running,” he said.
Zico also criticised the referee’s performance.
“The referee was really unfair. The injustice was clear. There’s been an unfairness right from the start of the match.
“It is clear that this tournament has been fixed.”
Argentina will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals in Kansas City on Saturday.
