{"id":117219,"date":"2026-07-08T14:00:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/?p=117219"},"modified":"2026-07-08T14:01:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:01:34","slug":"global-football-stars-egypt-suffered-refereeing-injustice-against-messi-and-his-teammates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/global-football-stars-egypt-suffered-refereeing-injustice-against-messi-and-his-teammates\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Football Stars: Egypt Suffered “Refereeing Injustice” Against Messi and His Teammates"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

International Criticism of Refereeing After Egypt\u2019s Exit… Calls for Investigation into Argentina Match Decisions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The refereeing decisions during Egypt\u2019s Round of 16 clash against Argentina at the FIFA World Cup sparked widespread criticism after the match ended with Argentina securing a 3\u20132 victory. The controversy centered on the disallowance of an Egyptian goal and the referee\u2019s decision not to award a penalty in the closing minutes\u2014calls that many believed could have changed the outcome of the match.<\/p>\n

The match saw a goal scored by Mostafa Ziko ruled out for an alleged foul at the beginning of the attacking move. Later, Egypt\u2019s players appealed for a penalty near the final whistle, but the referee rejected the claims despite strong protests on the field.<\/p>\n

Global Football Stars Criticize the Referee and VAR<\/h3>\n

Former England defender Jamie Carragher was among the most vocal critics of the decision to disallow Egypt\u2019s goal, arguing that the incident raised serious questions about the standards governing the use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system and the consistency of its decisions.<\/p>\n

Carragher stated that the result might have been different had the goal stood, adding that if a similar incident had occurred in a major competition such as the English Premier League, La Liga, or Serie A, the goal would likely have been allowed even after a VAR review. He also noted that the tournament had already witnessed several controversial refereeing decisions.<\/p>\n

The decision generated frustration among Egypt\u2019s players and supporters, who argued that the alleged infringement did not justify overturning a goal that could have given the Pharaohs a crucial advantage.<\/p>\n

Former England striker Alan Shearer also criticized the officiating, pointing to what he described as inconsistent treatment of key incidents during the match.<\/p>\n

Shearer reposted a video on his X account showing Mohamed Salah being brought down inside the penalty area before Argentina scored its third goal in stoppage time. He commented that logic dictated either treating both incidents as fouls or neither of them, arguing that failing to review such a crucial moment was unjustifiable.<\/p>\n

The two incidents fueled widespread debate, especially since French referee Fran\u00e7ois Letexier consulted VAR to disallow Egypt\u2019s goal but did not conduct a similar review for Egypt\u2019s penalty appeal.<\/p>\n

Sympathy for Egypt… Official Complaint Filed with FIFA<\/h3>\n

Former France international Patrice Evra also expressed sympathy for the Egyptian national team, sharply criticizing the decision to disallow the goal and claiming that Egypt had been “robbed” on the football field.<\/p>\n

Evra said the Egyptian player won the ball fairly before the attack ended with a brilliant goal, only for officials to spend several minutes searching for a reason to disallow it. He argued that VAR’s primary purpose is to correct clear and obvious errors, not to cancel outstanding goals over marginal details.<\/p>\n

He added that had the goal been scored by Argentina, it likely would not have been subjected to the same level of scrutiny, insisting that Egypt deserved to lead by two goals based on its performance against the defending champions.<\/p>\n

Following the match, Hany Abo Rida, President of the Egyptian Football Association, announced that an official complaint had been submitted to FIFA, calling for an investigation into French referee Fran\u00e7ois Letexier and the entire officiating team, including the VAR officials, over what he described as decisive refereeing mistakes and inconsistent application of the laws.<\/p>\n

Abo Rida stated that the complaint was based on what the federation considers serious errors that directly affected the outcome of the match, including the cancellation of a legitimate goal and the refusal to review incidents that Egypt believes warranted a penalty. He also requested that the officiating team be removed from the remainder of the tournament if found responsible for those mistakes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan launched a strong criticism of the officiating, insisting that the referee’s decisions significantly influenced the course of the match. He accused FIFA of favoring Argentina to ensure the team’s continued participation in the tournament, citing the considerable commercial value associated with captain Lionel Messi.<\/p>\n

With the victory over Egypt, Argentina secured its place in the World Cup quarter-finals, where it will face Switzerland, which advanced after defeating Colombia.<\/p>\n

United News Network (UNN Arabic)<\/strong><\/p>\n

An independent media platform delivering reliable news and objective analysis while promoting peace and cultural dialogue around the world to convey the truth and build bridges of understanding between peoples.<\/p>\n

For more news, visit our homepage:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/un-news.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Author:<\/strong> Counselor Faisal Al-Mutairi<\/p>\n

Publication Date:<\/strong> July 8, 2026<\/p>\n

Last Updated:<\/strong> July 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

International Criticism of Refereeing After Egypt\u2019s Exit… Calls for Investigation into Argentina Match Decisions The refereeing decisions during Egypt\u2019s Round of 16 clash against Argentina at the FIFA World Cup sparked widespread criticism after the match ended with Argentina securing a 3\u20132 victory. The controversy centered on the disallowance of an Egyptian goal and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"tmauthors":[74],"class_list":{"0":"post-117219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117219"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117220,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117219\/revisions\/117220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117219"},{"taxonomy":"tmauthors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tmauthors?post=117219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}