Egypt demand Fifa exclude referee after Argentina's 3-2 stoppage-time comeback ends their World Cup

Egypt have filed an official complaint with Fifa demanding the exclusion of French referee François Letexier and his team from the World Cup, after Argentina completed a stunning 3-2 comeback to eliminate the Pharaohs in the last 16. The holders trailed 2-0 before scoring three times, with Enzo Fernández heading the winner in stoppage time following a sequence of play Egypt insist should have been stopped for a foul.

The Egyptian Football Association confirmed the complaint in a statement from president Hany Abou Rida, who called for a full investigation into Letexier’s team over what the federation described as “serious refereeing mistakes” and “double standards”. The EFA specifically cited the “failure to make appropriate use of VAR” and alleged that referees insisted on “not reviewing some of the footage” for what it called “blatant errors”, going as far as to allege “the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team”.

Central to Egypt’s grievances are two key moments. Striker Mostafa Ziko had a goal disallowed when Egypt led 1-0, and Mohamed Salah appeared to claim a penalty before Argentina broke upfield for Fernández’s decisive header. The result denied Egypt a first World Cup quarter-final in their history.

Ziko was unsparing in his assessment at full-time. “The referee was really not fair,” he said. “The injustice was clear. We did a really good job in the early stages of the match. A 2-0 lead isn’t enough to beat Argentina. It is clear that this tournament has been fixed. But God is sufficient for us.”

Egypt manager Hossam Hassan was equally blunt, stating he would “never watch the World Cup again, because there’s no justice in this competition.”

The EFA said it was acting to “preserve justice and the integrity of the competition” and emphasised its intention to pursue “all the measures provided by the regulations”. Fifa had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

Argentina, now through to the quarter-finals, face Switzerland in Kansas City on Saturday.