France
MoroccoThu 9 Jul, 23:00Quarter-finals FranceMorocco
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The refereeing decisions in the Egypt national team match against Argentina, which was held for the 2026 World Cup competitions, sparked a state of controversy among former football stars.
Argentina's national team defeated its Egyptian counterpart, three goals to two, in the match that brought the two teams together yesterday evening, Tuesday, at Atlanta Stadium, in the United States of America, for the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup.
The match witnessed Argentina being awarded a penalty in the first half, which Lionel Messi missed, before a goal for Egypt was canceled in the second half, with doubts about the validity of the third goal, for which the Pharaohs demanded a penalty in their favor instead of it being awarded.
Ian Wright, former England and Arsenal star, explained that Argentina's winning goal against Egypt should have been canceled due to a foul against Mohamed Salah at the start of the attack.
Ian Wright said in statements reported by the British newspaper Mirror: "This is what is happening now with VAR technology, they go back to the previous clip."
He added: "If you are going to go back to a clip in favor of Argentina on the edge of the penalty area to cancel Egypt's goal, you must also go back to the clip involving Mohamed Salah to cancel Argentina's goal."
He continued: "Mohamed Salah was fouled.. Some may say the contact was minor, but he was touched, then Argentina launched the attack and scored."
Regarding Egypt's canceled goal, Ian Wright said: "If we are going to start using VAR in this way, is this its purpose? They went back to a very distant clip, and gave Argentina a long time to reorganize their ranks."
As for Roy Keane, the former Manchester United English star, Argentina's national team benefited from the refereeing decisions in that match, which qualified the Tango to the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup.
Roy Keane said: "The only thing I will say about Argentina's third goal is: when Salah changed direction inside the penalty area, why did his legs collapse?"
He added: "If you go back in football history, you will find that big teams often benefit from such decisions, but that should not diminish what Argentina achieved as well."
He continued: "Argentina were trailing 2-0 just 10 or 11 minutes from the end, and they must be given credit for this comeback.. But big teams always seem to benefit from such decisions."
When Gary Neville, the former England and Manchester United legend, was asked whether Egypt's canceled goal would be canceled for Argentina under similar circumstances, he replied: "Unlikely."
The strongest responses to the refereeing errors witnessed in the Egypt national team match against Argentina came from Alan Shearer, one of the most prominent legends of English football, as he described what happened as "nonsense."
Alan Shearer wrote on his Twitter account: "Either both incidents are fouls or neither of them, but they told us they would not reassess the referee's decisions. Nonsense."
Rio Ferdinand, the former England and Manchester United star, also launched a sharp attack on the refereeing decisions in the Egypt-Argentina match, stressing that the crisis lies in the lack of justice and consistency in applying decisions between teams.
Ferdinand said in televised statements: "I have followed football for many years, both as a player and as an analyst, and what frustrates fans the most is the lack of consistency in decisions."
Former English player Jamie Carragher also criticized the decision to cancel Egypt's goal against Argentina, stressing that the clip would have been counted as a valid goal if it had occurred under different circumstances, pointing to clear contradictions in the refereeing decisions during the 2026 World Cup.
Carragher said in televised statements: "I assure you that if the goal had been against another team, it would have been counted as a valid goal.. If this incident had happened in the English, Spanish or Italian league, it would have been counted as a goal even after video review, as there are many contradictions in this tournament."
The United States of America is hosting the 2026 World Cup, along with Mexico and Canada, with the participation of 48 teams, for the first time in the history of the tournament, during the period from June 11 to July 19.