Argentina rallied from two goals down to beat Egypt 3-2 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 in Atlanta on Tuesday, completing one of the tournament’s most improbable comebacks with an Enzo Fernandez header in the 92nd minute. Egypt manager Hossam Hassan responded by accusing FIFA of bias, saying the world body “wanted to keep the world champions in the competition” and Lionel Messi on the pitch.
The result sends Argentina into a quarterfinal against Switzerland. It also deepens a wider controversy that began a day earlier, when FIFA lifted the suspension of United States striker Folarin Balogun after a call from President Donald Trump to FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Egypt, who had reached the knockout stage for the first time in their history, exit Atlanta convinced that officials shaped the match.
Argentina’s Three Late Goals Flip a Two-Goal Deficit
Egypt were ahead inside 15 minutes. Yasser Ibrahim headed in from close range to give the Pharaohs a 1-0 lead they would hold for most of the afternoon. Argentina’s response was a missed Messi penalty saved by Egypt keeper Mohamed Shobeir, and a halftime deficit that grew when Mostafa Zico doubled Egypt’s advantage in the 67th minute, slamming home from six yards after a counter-attack set up by Mohamed Salah and Ibrahim Hassan.
Cristian Romero started the Argentina recovery in the 79th minute, heading in a cross from Messi to halve the deficit. Messi levelled the match four minutes later, lashing home after a knock-down by Lautaro Martinez to claim his eighth goal of the tournament. Fernandez completed the turnaround in the seventh minute of stoppage time, rising to head home a cross from the right and send the Argentina bench into tears.
- Cristian Romero 79′
- Lionel Messi 83′ (his eighth of the tournament)
- Enzo Fernandez 90+2′
The 3-2 victory was the first time Argentina have overturned a two-goal deficit to win a World Cup match. Egypt, who had beaten Australia on penalties on July 3 to reach the knockout stage for the first time, leave the tournament with two goals and a formal complaint to FIFA.
The VAR Call That Disallowed Egypt’s Second Goal
Minutes before Zico’s legitimate 67th-minute strike, the Egyptian forward had the ball in the Argentina net at 58 minutes, only for VAR to intervene. Officials ruled that an earlier incident in the same move, a tug on Lisandro Martinez’s shirt and a step on his foot by Egypt’s Marwan Attia deep in the Egyptian half, amounted to a foul that the on-field referee Francois Letexier had waved play on. VAR overturned the goal.
The Guardian live blog captured the moment as “heartbreak for Egypt, who ‘scored’ one of the great counter-attack goals.” Simon Chadwick, professor of Afro-Eurasian sport at the Emlyon Business School in Shanghai, called the sequence “unusual.” “There was something distinctly unusual about the goal and VAR decision, something that was amplified when Argentina scored one of its goals,” Chadwick told Al Jazeera, asking why the referee had not whistled for the Attia foul in real time, when video officials could pick it up only several moments later and only after Egypt had scored.
- The disallowed Zico goal (58′) for an Attia foul on Martinez that the on-field referee had not called.
- A non-review of an apparent shirt pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Mohamed Salah inside the Argentina box, moments before Fernandez headed the winner.
- Two penalty shouts in the Egyptian area in the closing stages that VAR did not check.
‘We Have Been Treated Unfairly’: Egypt’s Outrage
Hassan did not soften his post-match press conference at Atlanta Stadium. He told reporters the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it, and framed it as pressure designed to keep the defending champions alive.
Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running. In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champion received support at every level.
Hassan, the Egypt manager, made the remarks in his post-match press conference and repeated them to beIN Sports, where he added that Egypt had objected in advance to the appointment of French referee Letexier, citing the historical rivalry between France and Argentina; Argentina beat France in the 2022 final. He also said he had told the referee during the match that the official seemed to have “something to hide.”
Zico was more direct after the final whistle. “Hard luck,” the forward said. “The match was in our hands and slipped away at the last moment. Strange things happened on the pitch.” The Egyptian Football Association filed a formal complaint with FIFA in the hours after the match. The full Egypt reaction, including Hassan’s remarks on Messi and the referee’s appointment, is laid out in a separate breakdown of the post-match press conference.
The Analysts Read It Differently
Chadwick took the accusations seriously while stopping short of endorsing claims of match-fixing. He described the period around the disallowed goal as “unusual” and the wider officiating as “inconsistent,” and proposed that fans and viewers be allowed to hear the assessment of any disputed incident. He also acknowledged that “a sense of injustice was induced by the VAR decision” and that its use during the match “had significant cognitive and behavioural effects.”
There is no doubt that Messi is a box office attraction the tournament really can’t afford to be without.
Football analyst Ali El Garni, who has reported on European and North African football, split the difference. “Robbed might be a strong word,” El Garni told Al Jazeera. “I’d say decisions made by both the referee and VAR could have gone either way, and Argentina benefitted from all the 50/50 incidents.” El Garni accepted that the Attia foul on Martinez before Zico’s disallowed goal was “indisputable,” and questioned whether VAR would have intervened if the score had been 2-0 to Argentina. “What’s making it worse for Egypt is the fact that a similar incident involving what appeared to be a foul on Salah took place before Argentina’s third goal, and VAR didn’t intervene,” he said. The full exchange is in the wider Al Jazeera analysis of the VAR decision.
Trump, Balogun, and the Milei Connection
The Argentina-Egypt fallout arrived a day after a separate political intervention had already rattled the World Cup. On Sunday, FIFA announced that the one-match suspension of United States striker Folarin Balogun had been lifted for the round of 16 match against Belgium, after Trump called Infantino asking for a review of the red card Balogun had received in a round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Balogun played on Monday; Belgium won 4-1 and eliminated the hosts. Belgium coach Rudi Garcia mocked the decision as something out of April 1, “the first of April in Europe,” and the Royal Belgian Football Association said it was “astonished.”
Chadwick tied the two episodes together. “After the Balogun affair, who knows which decisions are legitimate and can be trusted, and which can’t?” he told Al Jazeera. He pointed out that Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, is a close Trump ally who appears regularly at pro-Trump political gatherings in the United States and whom Trump has publicly called his “favourite president.” Chadwick also raised Hassan’s pre-match news conference on Monday, in which the Egypt manager made an impassioned plea for the people of Palestine and those in the besieged Gaza Strip, and suggested this vocal advocacy could have prompted some officials to “have built-in biases when making decisions.” The political backdrop is explored further in a separate look at what Egypt’s elimination meant beyond the pitch.
For Egypt, the political backdrop has become part of the result. The disallowed Zico goal, the silent VAR review on the alleged Salah shirt pull, the late Fernandez header, and a separate US presidential intervention in a different match all unfolded inside 72 hours of tournament football, with Messi at the centre of the only one that ended Egypt’s tournament. Argentina’s next opponent is Switzerland, in Kansas City, on Sunday. The mechanics of the Balogun ruling are laid out in the AP report on FIFA’s reversal.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the final score of Argentina vs Egypt at the 2026 World Cup?
Argentina beat Egypt 3-2 in the Round of 16 at Atlanta Stadium on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. Cristian Romero (79th minute), Lionel Messi (83rd), and Enzo Fernandez (90+2) scored for Argentina; Yasser Ibrahim (15th) and Mostafa Zico (67th) scored for Egypt.
Why was Egypt’s goal ruled out by VAR?
VAR ruled out a Mostafa Zico goal in the 58th minute that would have made it 2-0 to Egypt. Officials ruled that an earlier incident in the same move, a shirt pull and a step on the foot by Egypt’s Marwan Attia on Lisandro Martinez, should have been a free kick to Argentina.
What did Egypt manager Hossam Hassan say after the match?
Hassan said the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it, and that “perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition” and “perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.” He said Egypt had objected in advance to French referee Francois Letexier’s appointment.
Did Donald Trump influence the Argentina-Egypt match?
There is no public reporting tying Trump directly to the Argentina-Egypt officiating. A day earlier, Trump had called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to ask for a review of Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension in the USA’s round of 16 match against Belgium; FIFA lifted the ban, and Belgium still won 4-1.
Who does Argentina play next at the World Cup?
Argentina face Switzerland in the quarterfinals, at Kansas City on Sunday, July 12. Switzerland beat Colombia on penalties in their round of 16 match.
