What did football experts say about Argentina’s controversial comeback by defeating Egypt in the FIFA World Cup?

Argentina pulled off a stunning comeback against Egypt to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup in Atlanta on Tuesday. The defending champion was trailing 0-2 just 11 minutes before the end of regular time. Cristian Romero gave life to the team with a goal before Messi equalized. Enzo Fernandes then sealed a remarkable win for Argentina with a stoppage-time goal. However, not everything in the match was as perfect as Argentina’s comeback. The match sparked great controversy over the video assistant referee technique, as Egyptian national team coach Hossam Hassan questioned the fairness of the tournament.

Among VAR’s decisive decisions was the moment when Egypt thought they had doubled their lead at the beginning of the second half through Mostafa Zico, but the goal was disallowed after review. The Pharaohs also called for a late penalty kick in the final minutes of the match, but their request for a VAR review was rejected.

Many social media users and football experts expressed their disappointment with the VAR decisions.

Former England captain Alan Shearer took to X and wrote: “Either both are fouls or neither are fouls. But they have told us they will not re-referee.”

Either both are wrong or neither is wrong. But they will not re-arbitrate, as they told us. #itsshit https://t.co/Up2xj7sXNJ

– Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) July 7, 2026

Meanwhile, Portuguese football legend Jose Mourinho described the match as a “daylight robbery”. The island.

Football analyst Ali Al-Qarni said: “Theft may be a strong word.”

“I would say that the decisions made by both the referee and VAR could have gone either way, and Argentina took advantage of all the events 50/50.

Al-Qarni added: “The incident that led to the cancellation of Al-Masry’s goal was an indisputable mistake. The question is to what extent the video assistant referee must go back to verify the legitimacy of the goal.”

From falling 2-0 down in the 67th minute to scoring three goals in the space of 13 minutes to secure an unforgettable victory and a place in the quarter-finals, the Argentine camp faced a variety of emotions: fear, acceptance that the game was over, hope, more hope, joy and finally relief.

After the clash, Lionel Messi was seen shedding tears of joy.

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