German expert: Egypt deserved a penalty against Argentina

Patrick Ittrich, the German refereeing expert, confirmed that the Egyptian national team deserved to receive a penalty kick in its match against Argentina, which was held as part of the 2026 World Cup competitions.

The Argentine national team defeated its Egyptian counterpart 3-2 in the match that brought the two teams together yesterday evening, Tuesday, at Atlanta Stadium in the United States of America, as part of the round of 16 competitions in the 2026 World Cup.

The match witnessed many controversial refereeing incidents, the most prominent of which was the failure to award two penalties to Egypt, one of which led to the decision not to award it resulting in Argentina's third goal.

Patrick Ittrich, the former referee in the German Bundesliga, expressed his understanding of the anger of the Egyptian national team players after the match, noting that all controversial incidents went in favor of Argentina.

Ittrich said in statements to Magenta TV channel, reported by the German Sky Sports network: "All controversial decisions were against Egypt.. and the negative feelings among the Egyptian players after the match are understandable".

Moments before Enzo Fernández scored the winning goal for Argentina with a 3-2 score in stoppage time (90+2), his teammate Alexis Mac Allister pulled Egyptian national team player Hamdi Fathi by his shirt while entering the Argentine penalty area.

Ittrich said about that incident: "For me, and I am completely clear on this matter, this is a penalty kick in favor of Egypt in this case.. Mac Allister did nothing but pull the shirt".

Patrick Ittrich concluded his statements by saying: "The intention was clear to prevent the Egyptian player from reaching the second ball inside the penalty area".