Argentina vs Egypt: Was the Referee Unfair? The VAR Decisions That Changed Everything

Argentina's dramatic 3-2 comeback against Egypt sent the reigning world champions into the quarter-finals, but within minutes of the final whistle, attention shifted away from Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernández and toward referee François Letexier and the VAR team.

Egypt believed they had been denied one of the biggest victories in their football history.

FIFA, however, insists the officials got the biggest decisions right.

The debate centers around three major incidents.

Egypt's disallowed second goal.

A possible penalty involving Mohamed Salah shortly before Argentina's winner.

Whether VAR was applied consistently throughout the match.

In an Interview after the game, Zico blamed the referee for favoring Argentina.

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The first major flashpoint came in the 62nd minute.

Egypt thought they had doubled their advantage through Mostafa Zico, only for VAR to intervene.

After reviewing the buildup, the referee ruled that Marwan Attia had committed a foul on Lisandro Martínez before the attack developed, meaning the goal was disallowed.

The decision immediately divided opinion.

Many Egyptian supporters argued the contact occurred too early in the attacking move to justify cancelling the goal.

Others believed the challenge clearly met the threshold for VAR intervention. Several referee analysts and former officials who reviewed the footage publicly defended the decision.

Professional referee analysis accounts concluded that Marwan Attia's foul was correctly identified in the buildup, making the cancellation of Egypt's goal consistent with the Laws of the Game.

FIFA's head of refereeing, Pierluigi Collina, also backed the officials.

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"VAR correctly identified a foul in the buildup."

Pierluigi Collina

Even after FIFA defended the decisions, many supporters remained unconvinced.

One of the biggest arguments raised online centered around consistency.

Fans questioned why Egypt's second goal was ruled out because VAR traced play back to a relatively soft foul in the buildup.

If officials were willing to review an earlier attacking phase that thoroughly, many argued they should also have examined the contact involving Mohamed Salah moments before Argentina launched the counterattack that produced Enzo Fernández's winning goal. That comparison quickly became one of the tournament's biggest talking points. Egypt manager Hossam Hassan made little effort to hide his frustration.

Speaking after the match, he insisted his players had been denied fair treatment.

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"What happened to us wasn't fair. We should have had a penalty, a goal was disallowed, and I don't know why it was disallowed."

Hossam Hassan

Hassan went even further, questioning the overall integrity of the officiating.

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"Life is unfair... but why isn't there any fairness in sports? The referee is unfair."

Hossam Hassan

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The Egyptian Football Association later lodged an official complaint over the refereeing performance and VAR decisions, arguing that multiple key incidents had gone against their team.