FIFA World Cup 2026 Controversy: Argentina's Win Over Egypt Under Scrutiny

Atlanta. Before the controversy involving US President Donald Trump and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino could subside, another controversy has begun. A new question has arisen after Argentina secured a controversial 3-2 victory over Egypt in the Round of 16 match held in Atlanta.

In the knockout match held on Tuesday, defending champions Argentina made a spectacular comeback. However, the late VAR decision to disallow Egypt's second goal and the subsequent events leading to Argentina's victory have come under widespread criticism.

Just a day earlier, it was revealed that Trump had urged FIFA to lift the one-match ban on American striker Folarin Balogun following his red card. FIFA controversially accepted this request.  

Balogun, who was initially banned but later allowed to play, was not effective for hosts USA. The issue became moot after Belgium defeated the USA 4-1, sending them out of the competition.

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• Trump's Interest in the World Cup

The audience's anger over FIFA's red card decision was directed at both FIFA and Trump. Meanwhile, Egypt's anger is fully directed at FIFA. According to the Egypt manager, FIFA 'wanted to keep the world champions in the competition'.

Head coach Hossam Hassan suspected pressure was put on the match officials. He stated that this was done to keep Lionel Messi, one of the most famous players in football, in the competition.

After the match, Hassan told beIN Sports, 'Perhaps they wanted to keep Messi in the competition. In football, external factors sometimes dominate over technical aspects. The world champions received support at every level.'

The competition has been controversial from the start due to questionable integrity and political influence. According to experts, the distinction between sports and politics has become even more blurred.

Simon Chadwick, a professor of Afro-Eurasian sports at Emlyon Business School in Shanghai, told Al Jazeera, 'After the Balogun incident, who knows which decisions are legitimate and which cannot be trusted?'

He added, 'If the Trump administration is closely monitoring this competition, one thing to remember is that Argentina's President Javier Milei is a staunch supporter of Trump.'

Trump and his Argentine counterpart have a close relationship. Milei often participates in Trump-supporting political rallies in the US. Trump has even called this far-right populist leader from Argentina his 'favorite president'.

Hassan had openly supported Palestine in the World Cup. Chadwick believes that due to this reason, some officials may have shown 'bias in decision-making'.

In a press conference before the match on Monday, Hassan made an emotional appeal for the people of Palestine, especially those in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

• Advantage Argentina

Commenting on the VAR decision to curtail Egypt's lead and subsequent decisions that favored Argentina, Chadwick described that period of the game as 'unusual'.

He also raised a question: why did the VAR officials notice an incident that the referee did not immediately call a foul, only after Egypt had scored their second goal?

Questioning the refereeing standards in the match, Chadwick said, 'There was definitely something unusual about that goal and the VAR decision. That abnormality became even clearer when Argentina scored a goal.'

He added, 'When the goal was being made, an Argentinian player had violated a rule. This could be considered similar to the mistake made by an Egyptian player earlier. Although critics are making very serious claims, the referee's decisions during the match were not consistent.'

Social media commentators and football experts are outraged by this decision. Jose Mourinho even called the match 'daylight robbery'. However, according to some football experts, those decisions were very subtle.

Football analyst Ali El Garni said, 'Robbery might be a strong word.'

'The decisions made by both the referee and VAR could have gone either way. In those fifty-fifty (50/50) situations, Argentina benefited,' he added.

Garni, who has extensive reporting experience in European and North African football, said, 'The incident before Egypt's goal was clearly a foul. The question here is, how far back can VAR go to check the legality of a goal?'

However, he expressed doubt whether VAR would have been used if the score had been 2-0 in favor of Argentina.

He said, 'If Argentina had scored that goal, would it have been disallowed? The possibility of that happening is very low.'

'What was even worse for Egypt was that before Argentina's third goal, a similar foul seemed to have occurred on Mohamed Salah. But VAR did not intervene at that time,' Garni said.

Meanwhile, Chadwick raised another question. He questioned why the VAR officials brought up the issue when the on-field referee did not call a foul for Marwan Attia of Egypt lightly pulling Lisandro Martinez's jersey and stepping on his foot.

Suggesting a logical solution to the VAR problem, Chadwick said, 'There should be a system to allow fans and viewers to hear the evaluation of potential mistakes. They should be able to hear the different arguments and get clear information about the basis of the decision.'

Although Egypt's players should not get carried away by emotions, Chadwick admitted that 'the VAR decision made them feel wronged'.

He said, 'The purpose of this technology was to reduce doubt and bring consistency to decisions. However, its use in this match had a serious mental and behavioral impact.'

'In fact, instead of escalating the situation by showing cards, the referee should have used his discretion and judgment to calm the situation.'

Chadwick dismissed rumors of match-fixing in favor of Messi and Argentina. However, he acknowledged the influence of the 'star power' of the famous footballer.

He concluded, 'There is no doubt that Messi is such a box office attraction that this competition cannot afford to lose.'

Al Jazeera