Egypt's Ziko accuses referee of rigging World Cup defeat to Argentina after 3-2 collapse

Egypt forward Mostafa Ziko has accused officials of rigging his country’s 3-2 World Cup last-16 defeat to Argentina in Atlanta, claiming the tournament itself is being steered toward a second consecutive title for the reigning champions.

Egypt led 2-0 and appeared on course for a major upset before Argentina scored three unanswered goals late in the match to advance. The turnaround was accompanied by significant controversy: Egypt had a goal disallowed by VAR for an alleged foul on Nicolás Tagliafico earlier in the build-up, and were denied what they believed was a clear penalty in the moments before Argentina’s winner.

Ziko, who scored Egypt’s second goal, was unsparing in his post-match assessment. “The referee wasn’t good, he was unfair. His injustice was clear. He persecuted us from the start of the match. He doesn’t want us to win,” he said. “It was a rigged game. It wasn’t our fault. 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.”

The striker was careful to acknowledge the quality of the opposition while maintaining his central allegation. “At no point did we think the match was already decided. We knew we were facing the reigning world champions. But if they had won solely on their own merits it would have been very different for us.”

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan echoed those grievances with equal force after the final whistle. “We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out and a second incident that should have been checked for a penalty for us was not even checked by VAR. A second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed,” he said.

Hassan went further in suggesting external pressure had influenced the official. “There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome. Life is unfair. The world is unfair. OK, but why isn’t there any fairness in sports? I’m not convinced by this outcome and by the way things unfolded in this match. The cup is directed towards Argentina.”

Argentina’s comeback keeps alive their bid to win back-to-back World Cup titles, though the manner of the victory is likely to fuel debate about officiating standards at the tournament for some time.