Argentina reverses Egypt 3-2 fifa world cup The round of 16 was hailed as another tournament classic, but the final result was overshadowed by a major controversy over the refereeing, which left the Egyptian camp furious after the final whistle. The defending champion fell behind 2-0 until the 67th minute before achieving a stunning comeback. Cristian Romero started the revival in the 79th minute, Lionel Messi The equalizer four minutes later, with Enzo Fernandez scoring in injury time, sent Argentina into the quarter-finals. While Argentina celebrated another memorable World Cup victory, Egypt had questions about two key moments that they believe changed the course of the game. The first goal came in the 59th minute when Mostafa Ziko thought he had doubled Egypt’s lead after finishing off a flowing move. However, after a VAR review, the referee deemed a foul had occurred earlier in the attack phase and the goal was disallowed. The Egyptian team did not lead 2-0 at that time, but waited until the 67th minute before Zico scored for the second time. After another quick counterattack, the goal still existed. Egypt were also furious at the development of Argentina’s stoppage-time winner. Players and coaching staff believed Alexis McAllister had committed a foul on the play before the ball ended up in the hands of Enzo Fernandez, who calmly scored the decisive goal. After the game, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan questioned the result and the referee, insisting that Egypt should have gotten more from the game. “I don’t believe in the result. I don’t believe in the way things went in this game,” Hassan said. “I don’t want to try to put it in a nice way with nice words, carefully chosen words, bad luck or whatever.” “We were treated unfairly today. We were treated unfairly.” The sentiment was echoed by forward Mostafa Ziko, who accused officials of denying Egypt a famous victory after his first goal was canceled out by VAR. “Unfair, unfair, referee, unfair. Unjust, clear injustice. He wasted the efforts of an entire country. From the very beginning of the game, he was against us. We cannot leave with a 2-0 win over Argentina. The game is determined. God is enough for us, he is the best handler.” Meanwhile, Argentina once again staged a stunning comeback after seemingly being destined for elimination. “We have an extraordinary team that never gives up despite difficulties and adversities. We are always together,” said match winner Enzo Fernandez. Forward Julian Alvarez added: “There is always a push in the Argentinian heart and no matter what happens, we will keep going and we will give everything until the end. To be honest, with the score of 2-0, we looked a bit defeated. There is not much time left, but we can always gain more by fighting until the end.” The victory moved Argentina into the quarter-finals, where they will face Switzerland after one of the most controversial and dramatic games of the tournament so far.
