Lionel Messi and Argentina are battling to retain their World Cup crown, but their path through the tournament has attracted significant controversy along the way.
Egypt were eliminated by Argentina 3-2 in the last 16 and immediately called on Fifa to remove the match officials from the rest of the competition.
Coach Hossam Hassan was blunt in his assessment after the defeat, stating Egypt had been “treated unfairly” and had “suffered injustice” at the hands of French referee Francois Letexier.
Hassan went further, directly questioning the motives behind the officiating, saying: “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.”
Egypt had been leading 2-0 with 11 minutes remaining and were on the verge of reaching a historic first-ever quarter-final before Argentina turned the match around completely.
A goal from Mostafa Zico was ruled out by VAR after Marwan Attia was penalised for stepping on the foot of Lisandro Martinez at the beginning of the move, a decision Egypt labelled as one of several “serious refereeing mistakes”.
Egypt also felt they should have been awarded a penalty before Enzo Fernandez headed home the winner in stoppage time, pointing to incidents involving Hamdi Fathy and Mohamed Salah.
The Salah incident drew comparisons with the Martinez situation, involving similar foot-on-foot contact, but analysts noted it did not clearly constitute a penalty award.
Adding further intrigue, the entire on-field officiating team for the quarter-final between France and Morocco on Thursday is Argentine, the first time this tournament that all officials have come from the same nation.
Referee Facundo Tello has handled two previous World Cup appointments where officials came from different nations, making the all-Argentine panel against France a notable and eyebrow-raising departure.
Questions were also raised earlier in the tournament after Messi escaped without even a booking for a challenge on Algeria captain Aissa Mandi, a decision that drew comparisons with the red card shown to Folarin Balogun in similar circumstances.
Had Messi received a red card, he would have been banned and unable to score his two goals against Algeria or his double against Austria, removing five of his eight tournament goals.
The broader context of Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s relationship with Messi adds another layer, with Inter Miami selected for the Club World Cup ahead of MLS champions LA Galaxy, allowing Messi to play in the opening game at his home stadium.
Argentina’s draw bracket has also raised eyebrows, with Fifa’s decision to separate the top four ranked nations meaning La Albiceleste faced Cape Verde, ranked 67th, and Egypt, ranked 29th, in their first two knockout rounds.
Switzerland, ranked 19th, await in the quarter-finals, while France have already beaten Morocco, ranked 7th, and Spain dispatched Portugal, ranked 5th, giving Argentina a comparatively gentle route through the competition.
Disciplinary statistics add a further dimension to the debate, with Argentina receiving a caution every 19.7 fouls compared to England’s far harsher rate of one yellow card every 7.7 fouls.
Argentina have committed more fouls than England at this tournament yet have received half the number of cautions, a disparity that is difficult to explain purely through the nature of the challenges involved.
Argentina also lead the tournament in penalties awarded with three spot-kicks, mirroring their record-breaking five penalties received during their victorious 2022 World Cup campaign.
Only Gonzalo Montiel faces suspension risk heading into the quarter-finals for Argentina, while England’s Thomas Tuchel has four players on bookings, including Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice.
Whether the accumulation of these factors amounts to deliberate favouritism or a series of unrelated coincidences remains a matter of fierce debate, but the controversy surrounding Argentina’s campaign shows no sign of fading.
