VAR strips Egypt of 2-0 lead against Argentina in contentious Copa América ruling

A VAR decision that divided analysts denied Egypt a commanding 2-0 lead over Argentina in their Copa América round-of-16 match on Tuesday, with Lionel Messi ultimately rescuing the South American side with an 83rd-minute equaliser to level the score at 2-2.

Mostafa Zico’s breakaway finish in the 58th minute was disallowed after VAR determined that Egyptian midfielder Marawan Attia had fouled Argentina defender Lisandro Martínez in the build-up. The controversy stemmed from the fact that the foul occurred while Argentina were still in possession at the other end of the pitch — roughly the full length of the field from where the goal was scored.

FOX Sports analyst Rob Green was openly critical of the call. “Surely, this is not within VAR’s [realm] to review this,” he said. “It’s a full length of the pitch away.” Green elaborated further: “That, 100 yards away, someone stepping on someone’s toe is not why VAR was brought into the game. We’ve got to a point now where we’ve reached far beyond the powers that it should have. The referee saw the tackle, decided not to give it and Egypt, with a brilliant breakaway goal, have been denied a two-goal cushion.”

FOX Sports officiating expert Dr. Joe Machnik took a different view, arguing the letter of the law supported the decision. “A foul in the attacking phase of play, which leads to a goal or possession by the team that scores a goal can result in the goal being disallowed and being given a free kick,” Machnik explained.

Argentina could not convert the resulting free kick, and Egypt restored their two-goal advantage when Zico struck again in the 67th minute. The cushion proved short-lived, however. Argentina pulled one back in the 79th minute before Messi’s equaliser four minutes later ensured the disallowed goal will remain a talking point long after the final whistle.

The incident reignites a familiar debate about the scope of VAR intervention — specifically whether the technology should be used to penalise fouls that occur far from the eventual goalscoring action and that the on-field referee had already chosen to play on.