FIFA Defends Refereeing After Egypt's Controversial Loss to Argentina

Pierluigi Collina, FIFA's head of refereeing, insisted that "nobody can claim that FIFA Refereeing can be influenced by anyone" after Egypt's formal complaint following their 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup. The match saw Argentina come back from 2-0 down in the final 15 minutes, but Egyptian players and officials alleged biased officiating.

The disputed decisions

Three key incidents fueled the controversy. First, an Egypt goal by Mostafa Zico was disallowed after VAR detected an earlier foul by Marwan Attia on Lisandro Martínez. Second, Egypt claimed a penalty for a foul by Julián Álvarez on Mohamed Salah before Argentina's winning goal. Third, a potential foul on Hamdy Fathy was not reviewed. Argentine former referees consulted by Clarín considered the decisions correct, with Héctor Baldassi stating the disallowed goal had "ribetes de APP" Source: Clarín.

Reactions

Egypt's coach Hossam Hassan called it "a clearly rigged match" Source: El Colombiano, while Mohamed Salah questioned the lack of protection for Egypt. The Egyptian Football Federation submitted a formal complaint demanding an investigation and the exclusion of referee François Letexier Source: Excélsior. Media across the Arab world expressed indignation, with Youm7 calling it "one of the most controversial matches of the tournament" Source: La Vanguardia.

FIFA's stance

Collina defended each decision. On the disallowed goal, he said: "We believe a foul is a foul. If the referee didn't see it, VAR can intervene." Regarding the penalty claim, he argued that "a defender who touches the ball first and then makes normal contact hasn't committed a foul" Source: La Voz. Collina also warned that "unfounded accusations have no place in our sport" and could lead to threats against officials Source: ABC.es.