The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has formally petitioned FIFA to investigate the officiating team that handled Egypt’s dramatic 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, claiming a series of controversial decisions contributed to the team’s elimination.
Egypt looked set for a famous victory after opening a two-goal lead and maintaining it until the closing stages of Tuesday’s encounter in Atlanta. However, defending champions Argentina produced a stunning late comeback, with goals from Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernández securing a quarter-final meeting with Switzerland.
The aftermath of the match has been dominated by debate over several key refereeing decisions, which the Egyptian federation believes significantly influenced the outcome.
One of the major incidents came when Mostafa Zico had what would have been Egypt’s second goal disallowed after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review. Referee François Letexier ruled that a foul had been committed on Lisandro Martínez during the build-up.
Egypt also appealed for a penalty after Julián Álvarez challenged Mohamed Salah in the box when the score was level, while the team further argued that Alexis Mac Allister fouled Hamdi Fathy in the build-up to Enzo Fernández’s winning goal.
The EFA contends that the officiating lacked consistency, arguing that the incident leading to Egypt’s disallowed goal received extensive VAR scrutiny, whereas the challenges involving Salah and Fathy were allowed to pass without a review before Argentina scored the decisive goal.
Following the match, EFA President Hany Abo Rida submitted an official complaint to FIFA, requesting a comprehensive investigation into the refereeing performance.
According to the federation, the complaint alleges that serious officiating errors directly affected the outcome of the match and Egypt’s exit from the tournament.
Among the issues highlighted were the decision to disallow Egypt’s goal after a VAR review, the failure to award a penalty following the challenge on Salah, the absence of a VAR review for incidents involving Salah and Fathy, and what it described as the inconsistent application of VAR protocols throughout the game.
The Egyptian federation also requested that referee François Letexier, his assistants and the VAR officials be withdrawn from officiating the remainder of the World Cup pending the outcome of the investigation.
In its statement, the EFA praised the performance of the Egyptian players, describing them as “heroes” for their display against the defending champions, while expressing regret that the team was unable to preserve its advantage.
The complaint adds to growing scrutiny of refereeing standards at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where several teams have questioned officiating decisions during the tournament.
FIFA had not publicly responded to Egypt’s petition at the time of filing this report, and it remains unclear whether the governing body will launch a formal investigation into the officials.
Argentina, meanwhile, progress to the quarter-finals after completing one of the tournament’s most dramatic comebacks, while Egypt bow out amid lingering controversy over the officiating.
Although national associations have previously challenged refereeing decisions at FIFA World Cups, such complaints have rarely resulted in disciplinary action against match officials or changes to match outcomes.
Egypt lodged a similar protest after its group-stage defeat to hosts Russia at the 2018 World Cup, while Italy sought an investigation following its controversial Round of 16 exit to South Korea at the 2002 tournament. In both instances, FIFA upheld the results.
Earlier in the ongoing World Cup, Algeria also submitted a complaint over refereeing decisions after its defeat to Argentina.
Historically, FIFA conducts internal assessments of refereeing performances, but formal complaints by national associations have seldom led to officials being removed from a tournament or match results being overturned.