Egypt was very close to a ticket to the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup when they led Argentina 2-0. However, they still let the defending champions come back to win 3-2 thanks to goals from Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez.
After the match, many Egyptian players expressed dissatisfaction with the refereeing work. However, captain Mohamed Salah still maintained a calm attitude.
Regarding the referee, I don't want to comment. Everyone has seen what happened. This is the fate of the match and also a predetermined result. We had a very good first half and also played well for most of the second half. Just a few small mistakes cost us" - Salah said.
Salah also mentioned controversial situations at the end of the match, but did not want to directly criticize the refereeing team: "We had a goal that was not recognized and also did not get a penalty. Immediately after that, Argentina counter-attacked and scored. I have nothing more to say.
In this match, Egypt had a goal by Mostafa Zico that was denied by VAR because it determined Marwan Attia fouled in the previous situation. In injury time, the African team also thought Salah was fouled in the penalty area, but referee Francois Letexier did not award a penalty. Just seconds later, Enzo Fernandez scored to seal a 3-2 victory for Argentina.
Despite stopping in the round of 16, Salah still appreciates Egypt's journey at the 2026 World Cup.
The coach congratulated the whole team on the journey. He wants us to go further, but that's football. We will build on what we have done in this tournament and hope the future will be even better.
