Egypt forward Mostafa Ziko has accused match officials of favouring Argentina following his side's 3-2 defeat in the Round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Ziko made the remarks after Argentina recovered from a two-goal deficit to book their place in the quarterfinals.
Reacting to the result, the Egypt international questioned the officiating and suggested the tournament was biased in Argentina's favour.
"Congratulations to Argentina on the World Cup; the tournament was rigged, they didn't need anything else. The referee was unfair, unfair, unfair, unfair," Ziko said, according to *The Touchline*.
The match was overshadowed by several controversial decisions.
In the 58th minute, Ziko appeared to have restored Egypt's two-goal advantage, but the effort was ruled out after referee François Letexier judged that there had been a foul on Argentina defender Lisandro Martínez in the build-up.
Egypt also protested Argentina's stoppage-time winner, claiming two fouls were missed before Enzo Fernández headed home in the 90+2nd minute.
However, both the referee and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) upheld the decisions, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to award Egypt's disallowed goal or overturn Argentina's winner.
Egypt had taken the lead in the 15th minute through Yasser Ibrahim's header before Lionel Messi missed a penalty six minutes later.
Ziko thought he had doubled Egypt's advantage from a Mohamed Salah assist before the goal was eventually chalked off.
Argentina mounted a late comeback as Cristian Romero pulled one back in the 79th minute before Messi equalised four minutes later. Fernández then completed the turnaround with a stoppage-time header to seal a dramatic victory.
The result sends Argentina into the quarterfinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while Egypt's campaign comes to an end.
