Egypt are out of the World Cup 2026, and a large part of the football world is arguing about how they got there. Argentina came from 2-0 down to win their Round of 16 tie 3-2 at Atlanta Stadium, Argentina scoring three times in the closing stages with Lionel Messi among the scorers and Enzo Fernandez heading the winner in stoppage time. Between those two facts sits a refereeing row that has taken over the reaction: a disallowed Egypt goal, a penalty shout for Mohamed Salah that went nowhere, and a growing chorus, from the Egypt bench to former Premier League players, claiming the game was not called fairly.
SportsDelulu is not here to rule on the decisions. We are here to report what people are saying, and a lot of people are saying the same thing.
What happened
Egypt led 2-0 and looked set for the biggest result of their tournament. Then Mostafa Ziko thought he had made it a third. French referee Francois Letexier, sent to the pitchside monitor by VAR, ruled it out for a foul in the build-up by Marwan Attia on Lisandro Martinez. Argentina, handed a lifeline, scored three times late, and Egypt's protests over a non-awarded Salah penalty and the build-up to the winner were waved away.
Egypt: "there's no justice in this competition"
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan did not hide his anger. "We haven't seen respect or fair play," he told reporters. "A penalty was ruled out and a second incident that should have been checked for a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR." He went further, questioning the motives: "Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition? Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running?" His verdict was blunt: "It's an undeserved victory for Argentina. I'll never watch the World Cup again, because there's no justice in this competition."
Ziko, who had the goal chalked off, was just as direct: "It was not fair from the referee. It was really not fair, that was very clear. He wasted all of our efforts." In his eyes, "the cup is directed towards Argentina."
A nation rallies behind the team
Whatever the officials decided, the response at home leaned on pride rather than despair. The Egyptian Football Federation posted on X: "You were men of great responsibility. Proud of you. Thank you for everything." President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi added his own message: "We are proud of you and your achievement, and the future is brighter for you."
The outside view
The sense of grievance was not confined to Egypt. Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said what many were thinking: "I assure you that if the goal was against another team, it would have been allowed." Jose Mourinho took aim at the process: "It's a shame what football is becoming. How do you let the play continue, allow the goal to be scored, and only then decide to cancel it?"
The other side of the argument
For balance, the VAR call had a stated basis. Replays showed Attia holding Martinez's shirt and standing on his foot before the move that led to Ziko's goal, and by the letter of the law an attacking foul in the build-up wipes the goal out. Supporters of the call say the technology did its job. Critics answer that the same forensic standard was not applied at the other end. That gap, between what the rule book allows and what felt fair, is where this whole argument lives.
Egypt go home. The debate about how they were sent there is not going anywhere.
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