Egypt's Ziko accuses FIFA of fixing World Cup after controversial 3-2 loss to Argentina

Mostafa Ziko levelled explosive allegations against FIFA after Egypt were eliminated from the 2026 World Cup in a 3-2 defeat to Argentina on 7 July, claiming the tournament had been “fixed” in favour of Lionel Messi’s side.

Egypt had surged into a 2-0 lead and appeared to be on course for one of the competition’s great upsets, only for a series of contentious refereeing decisions to swing the match. The most striking came when a goal was disallowed via VAR: Haissem Hassan carried the ball forward, fed Mohamed Salah for a trivela, and Ziko finished — but the effort was ruled out after the referee judged Lisandro Martinez to have been fouled in the build-up. Ziko and the same trio later combined legitimately to make it 2-0, yet Argentina recovered to win 3-2.

The controversy did not end there. Egypt also had two penalty appeals waved away in the build-up to Argentina’s third and winning goal, while a foul was awarded against Salah for a challenge on Leandro Paredes that halted a promising Egyptian attack. Calls for a red card in the game’s early stages added further fuel to the post-match debate.

Speaking to the BBC immediately after the final whistle, a visibly emotional Ziko did not hold back. “The referee was really not fair. Not fair. The injustice was clear,” he said. “We did a good job in the early stages of the match. There’s been an unfairness right from the start… a 2-0 lead isn’t enough to beat Argentina.”

In tears, Ziko went further: “This tournament has been fixed. But God is sufficient for us — the best disposer of affairs. He’s wasting the efforts of an entire nation. The cup is being given to Argentina.”

Argentina, who were pushed to the wire by both Egypt and Cape Verde in the group stage, will next face the winner of Colombia versus Switzerland in the quarter-finals. FIFA has not yet responded publicly to Ziko’s allegations.