Egypt files FIFA complaint after controversial World Cup loss to Argentina

Egypt's Football Association filed a formal complaint with FIFA after its 3-2 round-of-16 loss to Argentina, saying it "cannot remain silent" over what it called double standards in officiating. The federation demanded an investigation and called for referee François Letexier and his entire team of officials to be removed from the tournament.

Egypt led 2-0 with 11 minutes remaining before Argentina scored three late goals, including Enzo Fernández's stoppage-time winner. The complaint cites a VAR review that disallowed Mostafa Zico's 62nd-minute goal for a foul in the buildup. It also complained that a late penalty appeal after Hamdy Fathy went down was not reviewed or awarded.

Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said his team had been "cheated" and suggested "external factors" were involved. FIFA refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina rejected claims of bias, saying the officials worked with complete independence and that nobody could influence FIFA refereeing, "not even by the FIFA president (Gianni Infantino)." Collina said VAR correctly intervened on the disallowed Egypt goal because of a foul by Marwan Attia on Lisandro Martinez, and he described the Salah penalty incident as "normal football contact."

On social media, posts cast the result as a rigged tournament built around Lionel Messi's team, and others used unrelated clips and comparisons to argue that FIFA favored Argentina. One widely shared video showed Gianni Infantino congratulating Argentina after its match against Cape Verde. Rob Green criticized the VAR decision on Fox Sports, and Alan Shearer questioned the consistency of the officiating.