Defending world champions Argentina secured their place in the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup today, pulling off a dramatic 3-2 comeback victory against Egypt in Atlanta after trailing by two goals.
Egypt took a surprise lead through Yasser Ibrahim in the 15th minute and looked poised for an upset when Mostafa Zico doubled the advantage in the 67th minute.
Faced with elimination, Argentina launched a late offensive. Cristian Romero sparked the comeback with a goal in the 79th minute, followed by an equalizer from Lionel Messi in the 83rd minute. Midfielder Enzo Fernández completed the dramatic turnaround by scoring the winning goal two minutes into stoppage time (90+2′).
With this victory, Argentina advances to the quarterfinals, where they will play on Saturday in Kansas City against the winner of the round-of-16 matchup between Colombia and Switzerland.
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Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan and forward Mostafa Ziko launched a scathing attack on the officiating following their dramatic 3-2 World Cup elimination by Argentina, openly accusing the tournament of being rigged. Hassan, who was cautioned with a yellow card during the tense match, did not hold back his fury during his post-match press conference.
“I will say what’s on my mind regardless of the consequence; this was clearly a rigged match, and the whole world saw it,” Hassan stated. Expressing his deep frustration with what he perceived as favoritism toward the defending champions, he added, “If they want them [Argentina] to win so bad, why call everyone to come and participate?”
The anger was shared by Egyptian goalscorer Ziko, who was highly upset by the referee’s decisions throughout the game. The boiling point came late in stoppage time when officials overlooked a controversial foul on an Egyptian player just moments before Argentina broke the deadlock to seal their 3-2 victory.
“Congratulations to Argentina on the World Cup; the tournament was rigged; they didn’t need anything else,” Ziko said after the final whistle, concluding with a bitter assessment of the match official: “The referee was unfair, unfair, unfair, unfair.”
Ziko, jogador do Egito, critica arbitragem da FIFA e diz que “campeonato é direcionado” pra Argentina. pic.twitter.com/OVfnMwexSU
— Moments of Brazilian Politics (@MomentsofBrazi1) July 7, 2026
