Explained: The VAR decision that angered Egypt against Argentina

Egyptian international Mostafa Zico (11) celebrates his second goal (AP Photo) Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Egypt in the last 16 of the World Cup was hailed as another tournament classic, but the result was overshadowed by a major refereeing row that left the Egyptian camp fuming after the final whistle. The defending champions led 2-0 until the 67th minute before they staged a stunning late turnaround. Cristian Romero sparked a revival in the 79th minute, Lionel Messi equalized four minutes later and Enzo Fernandez struck in stoppage time to send Argentina through to the quarter-finals. As Argentina celebrated yet another memorable escape from the World Cup, Egypt were left in doubt over two crucial moments which they believe changed the course of the match. The first came in the 59th minute when Mostafa Ziko thought he had doubled Egypt’s lead after finishing a flowing move. However, after a VAR review, the goal was disallowed after the referees deemed a foul earlier in the attacking phase. Instead of leading 2-0 at this stage, Egypt had to wait until the 67th minute for Ziko to score for the second time, the effort coming after another quick counter-attack. The Egyptian camp was also angered by advancing to Argentina’s breakaway winner. The players and coaching staff felt Alexis Mac Allister was fouled on an attacking move before the ball eventually fell to Enzo Fernandez who calmly scored the decisive goal. After the match, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan questioned both the result and the officiating, insisting that his side deserved more from the match. “I’m not convinced about this result. I’m not convinced about how things went during this match,” Hassan said. “I don’t want to try to put it here nicely with beautiful wording, chosen wording and say bad luck and so on and so forth.” “We were treated unfairly today. We suffered injustice.” Forward Mostafa Ziko echoed those sentiments, blaming the officials for denying Egypt a famous victory after his first goal was ruled out by VAR. “No fair, no fair, referee, no fair. Injustice, plain and obvious injustice. Wastes the efforts of the whole country. He was against us from the start of the match. We are not allowed to walk away 2-0 winners against Argentina. The tournament is fixed. God is sufficient for us and He is the best disposer of things.” Argentina, meanwhile, celebrated another remarkable comeback after looking destined for elimination. “We have a phenomenal group, a group that never gives up no matter the difficulties and adversity. We are always together,” said match winner Enzo Fernandez. Striker Julian Alvarez added: “Argentinians’ heart is always something that pushes, that we keep going no matter what, that we give everything until the end. And honestly, at 2-0, we looked a bit defeated. There was little time left, but we always manage to get something more by fighting until the end.” The win sends Argentina into the quarter-finals, where they will face Switzerland after surviving one of the most controversial and dramatic matches of the tournament.