Egyptian players were disappointed and felt let down by a few refereeing decisions that eventually turned the game in Argentina’s favour, which pulled off perhaps their best win of the tournament in Atlanta on Tuesday (Jul 7). Trailing 0-2 with close to 20 minutes remaining, Argentina, inspired by Lionel Messi's leadership and a crucial goal, made a stunning comeback and smashed three goals inside 14 minutes to knock Egypt out of the World Cup. Mostafa Ziko, Egypt’s striker, who scored the second goal in the 67th minute, blasted the match referee for his alleged bias towards the defending champions, saying, ‘This game is rigged.’&nbsp;Egypt opened the scoring in the first half through a header by Yasser Ibrahim, with Argentina failing to find the back of the net. Early in the second half, Mohamed Salah’s crisp pass saw Ziko convert it into a goal, with Egypt leading 2-0. While the players and the fans erupted in joy, potentially sniffing the biggest upset of the tournament thus far, a VAR review disallowed the goal for a foul that occurred nearly 100 yards from the scoring position. &nbsp;The match referee rushed to check the replays and later cancelled Egypt’s second goal and perhaps their biggest chance of reaching the World Cup quarterfinal for the first time. Even though the African nation scored soon after through Ziko’s precision, they failed to stop Argentina from making the mother of all comebacks.&nbsp;Also read| <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/fifa-world-cup-2026-lionel-messi-8-goals-argentina-beat-egypt-late-to-secure-quarterfinal-berth-1783448439018">Mother of All Comebacks: Argentina stun Egypt late to secure quarterfinal berth</a> &nbsp;Highly upset with the referee’s call, doubled up with another decision to overlook a foul on an Egyptian player late in the stoppage time, just before Argentina made it 3-2, Ziko said, “Congratulations to Argentina on the World Cup; the tournament was rigged; they didn’t need anything else.” &nbsp;“The referee was unfair, unfair, unfair, unfair.”

FIFA World Cup 2026 Live on Zee5

Egypt’s head coach Hossam Hassan, who also received a yellow card, ripped the referee for his decisions. &nbsp;“I will say what’s on my mind regardless of the consequence; this was clearly a rigged match, and the whole world saw it” &nbsp;“And I want to say one more thing, if they want them [Argentina] to win so bad, why call everyone to come and participate?” he said after the match that knocked Egypt out of the World Cup.&nbsp; &nbsp;Meanwhile, Messi’s Argentina has qualified for the Last 8 of this edition in North America and will face the winner of the Switzerland-Colombia fixture in the quarterfinal.

Egypt's Mostafa Ziko and coach Hossam Hassan slam the referee, claiming "the game is rigged" after a controversial VAR call spoils their 2-0 lead, allowing Argentina to secure a dramatic 3-2 World Cup win.

Egyptian players were disappointed and felt let down by a few refereeing decisions that eventually turned the game in Argentina’s favour, which pulled off perhaps their best win of the tournament in Atlanta on Tuesday (Jul 7). Trailing 0-2 with close to 20 minutes remaining, Argentina, inspired by Lionel Messi's leadership and a crucial goal, made a stunning comeback and smashed three goals inside 14 minutes to knock Egypt out of the World Cup. Mostafa Ziko, Egypt’s striker, who scored the second goal in the 67th minute, blasted the match referee for his alleged bias towards the defending champions, saying, ‘This game is rigged.’ Egypt opened the scoring in the first half through a header by Yasser Ibrahim, with Argentina failing to find the back of the net. Early in the second half, Mohamed Salah’s crisp pass saw Ziko convert it into a goal, with Egypt leading 2-0. While the players and the fans erupted in joy, potentially sniffing the biggest upset of the tournament thus far, a VAR review disallowed the goal for a foul that occurred nearly 100 yards from the scoring position. The match referee rushed to check the replays and later cancelled Egypt’s second goal and perhaps their biggest chance of reaching the World Cup quarterfinal for the first time. Even though the African nation scored soon after through Ziko’s precision, they failed to stop Argentina from making the mother of all comebacks. Also read| Mother of All Comebacks: Argentina stun Egypt late to secure quarterfinal berth Highly upset with the referee’s call, doubled up with another decision to overlook a foul on an Egyptian player late in the stoppage time, just before Argentina made it 3-2, Ziko said, “Congratulations to Argentina on the World Cup; the tournament was rigged; they didn’t need anything else.” “The referee was unfair, unfair, unfair, unfair.”

Egypt's Mostafa Ziko and coach Hossam Hassan slam the referee, claiming "the game is rigged" after a controversial VAR call spoils their 2-0 lead, allowing Argentina to secure a dramatic 3-2 World Cup win.

‘The Game is Rigged!’ – Egypt’s Ziko blasts match referee after dramatic Argentina comeback

Lionel Messi inspired Argentina to a late comeback against Egypt as the defending champions came from 0-2 down to win their Last 16 match 3-2 in Atlanta on Tuesday (Jul 7), securing a quarterfinal berth at the FIFA World Cup 2026. Messi assisted once and scored too, increasing his tally at this edition to eight and counting, with goals from Cristian Romero and Enzo Fernández sealing the mother of all comebacks for their side. Argentina will now face the winner of Switzerland and Colombia in the quarterfinal.&nbsp;After Messi missed his second straight penalty in successive games at this edition, he scored one in the 83rd minute to equalise before watching Fernández hit the knockout punch with a clear header in stoppage time to help Argentina secure a famous win at the World Cup.&nbsp;&nbsp;Also read| <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/neymar-s-father-shares-emotional-tribute-after-brazil-star-s-international-retirement-1783431409695">Neymar’s father shares emotional tribute after Brazil star’s international retirement</a> &nbsp;Messi wasn’t at his best while taking penalties, and his second miss in the last four chances proves the same. He, however, remained upbeat about his team's chances of winning the game despite Egypt leading 2-0 with just 20 minutes remaining. Following Egypt's second goal, scored by Mustafa Ziko in the 67th minute, minutes after his goal was disallowed amid a controversial decision, Argentina pulled up their socks. They broke the stubborn Egyptian defence thrice in 14 minutes to make a stunning comeback into the game.

Messi, the Player of the Match, for his goal and an assist, both clinical in the context of the game, shed tears of joy while embracing his teammates. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was almost too choked up to speak afterwards, saying: “I'm really emotional right now. What a group of players, man.”<h3>Egypt, goals and controversial decisions</h3>Egypt was left furious after several controversial calls went against them, including a disallowed goal early in the second half, and a member of their coaching staff was red-carded in the aftermath of the winning goal. However, that was not how they began their quest for a quarterfinal berth in the World Cup. &nbsp;Marwan Attia's deep cross to the back post was powered home by Yasser early in the first half. Argentina had the chance to level five minutes later when Tagliafico was wiped out by Haissem Hassan inside the box. The Egyptian goalkeeper, Mostafa Shobeir, then won a million praises worldwide for his tactical yet brave save against Messi’s penalty, leaving the eight-time Ballon d’Or heartbroken over his second-straight miss, also becoming the first player to miss two in a single tournament, having also failed to hit the target against Austria in the group stages. &nbsp;That penalty save, however, was just the start of Shobeir's inspired afternoon. Alexis Mac Allister's powerful header from point-blank range was next to be parried by the Al Ahly stopper. Shobeir then produced one of the saves of the tournament to prevent Alvarez's shot from finding the bottom corner. &nbsp;Later, in the second half, Mohamed Salah played in Mostafa Ziko, who dinked the ball perfectly over the onrushing Emi Martinez.&nbsp;The Egyptian celebrations were cut short by a hugely controversial VAR intervention for a foul on Lisandro Martínez, just outside the Egypt box, at the start of the build-up to the goal. &nbsp;The decision finally fired up the majority of the Argentine crowd, but they were silenced once more moments later by another blistering Egyptian break. Salah again led the charge before feeding Hassan, and his cross was swept in by Zico. &nbsp;Moments later, Argentina scored three goals and won the game, punching their quarterfinal ticket.

Defending champions Argentina stage the mother of all comebacks, overcoming a 2-0 deficit against Egypt to win 3-2 in Atlanta. Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernández seal a dramatic World Cup 2026 quarterfinal berth.

Lionel Messi inspired Argentina to a late comeback against Egypt as the defending champions came from 0-2 down to win their Last 16 match 3-2 in Atlanta on Tuesday (Jul 7), securing a quarterfinal berth at the FIFA World Cup 2026. Messi assisted once and scored too, increasing his tally at this edition to eight and counting, with goals from Cristian Romero and Enzo Fernández sealing the mother of all comebacks for their side. Argentina will now face the winner of Switzerland and Colombia in the quarterfinal. After Messi missed his second straight penalty in successive games at this edition, he scored one in the 83rd minute to equalise before watching Fernández hit the knockout punch with a clear header in stoppage time to help Argentina secure a famous win at the World Cup. Also read| Neymar’s father shares emotional tribute after Brazil star’s international retirement Messi wasn’t at his best while taking penalties, and his second miss in the last four chances proves the same. He, however, remained upbeat about his team's chances of winning the game despite Egypt leading 2-0 with just 20 minutes remaining. Following Egypt's second goal, scored by Mustafa Ziko in the 67th minute, minutes after his goal was disallowed amid a controversial decision, Argentina pulled up their socks. They broke the stubborn Egyptian defence thrice in 14 minutes to make a stunning comeback into the game.

Defending champions Argentina stage the mother of all comebacks, overcoming a 2-0 deficit against Egypt to win 3-2 in Atlanta. Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernández seal a dramatic World Cup 2026 quarterfinal berth.

Mother of All Comebacks: Argentina stun Egypt late to secure quarterfinal berth

argentina-vs-egypt-world-cup-2026

Argentina Vs Egypt World Cup 2026, News on Argentina Vs Egypt World Cup 2026, stories on Argentina Vs Egypt World Cup 2026, articles on Argentina Vs Egypt World Cup 2026, Argentina Vs Egypt World Cup 2026 stories at Wion, Argentina Vs Egypt World Cup 2026 news, Argentina Vs Egypt World Cup 2026 latest news

argentina vs-egypt-world-cup-2026

‘The Game is Rigged!’ – Egypt’s Ziko blasts match referee after dramatic Argentina comeback

Mother of All Comebacks: Argentina stun Egypt late to secure quarterfinal berth