All-Argentine referee team for France vs Morocco sparks World Cup fix accusations

FIFA’s appointment of an entirely Argentine officiating team for France’s World Cup quarter-final against Morocco on Thursday has triggered a wave of fix allegations from fans and players, days after Egypt publicly accused the governing body of favouring the reigning champions.

Facundo Tello will take charge of the last-eight tie, with Juan Pablo Belatti and Gabriel Chade as his assistants, Dario Herrera as fourth official, and Cristian Navarro as reserve assistant referee — all five hailing from Argentina. The announcement drew immediate backlash on social media given Argentina’s direct stake in the tournament and their fraught history with France, whom they defeated on penalties in the 2022 World Cup final.

One social media user wrote: “All Argentina referees for a France match, FIFA trying everything to rig the World Cup for Argentina once again,” while another added: “A full Argentinian delegation, you will never beat the allegations.” A third posted: “Argentine refs… at least try and hide your nonsense corruption.”

The controversy deepens in the context of Argentina’s round-of-16 comeback against Egypt, which ended 3-2 after Lionel Messi’s side trailed 2-0. Egyptian forward Mostafa Ziko, who scored one goal and had another disallowed via VAR, was unequivocal after the match. “It was a rigged game,” he said. “That referee… it seems like this match was rigged. We were winning 2-0, and he kept coming at us. Congratulations to Argentina on another World Cup, it seems.”

Ziko’s disallowed goal was ruled out after VAR cited a foul on an Argentine player in the build-up. Egypt argued that a comparable incident — a challenge on one of their players in the lead-up to Enzo Fernandez’s winner — was not reviewed with the same scrutiny. The Pharaohs also contended that Mohamed Salah was fouled by Julian Alvarez in the penalty area before Fernandez’s decisive header, a claim officials dismissed.

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan went further, suggesting football’s governing hierarchy were actively working to keep Argentina and Messi in the competition. “Why isn’t there any fairness in sport? In football?” he said. “We have been treated with injustice.”

France, managed by Didier Deschamps, face Morocco — the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions — with a semi-final place on the line. FIFA has not publicly responded to the allegations surrounding either the Egypt match or the referee appointment.