Why Egypt's Awesome Goal Against Argentina was Disallowed By VAR
- VAR ruled out Egypt's superb team goal after referee François Letexier judged Marwan Attia to have fouled Lisandro Martínez earlier in the move
- Confusion spread around the stadium before the scoreboard confirmed Egypt's second goal had been overturned
- Egypt later restored their lead before Argentina staged a dramatic fightback with two late goals to level the match
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Egypt thought they had taken a commanding 2-0 lead over defending champions Argentina in their 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 clash, only for VAR to intervene and dramatically change the course of the match.
The African champions celebrated what appeared to be a superb team goal, but a lengthy review by referee François Letexier ruled it out after identifying a foul earlier in the attacking move.
Source: Getty Images
VAR overturns Egypt's brilliant team goal
Egypt carved Argentina open with an impressive attacking move that began on the right flank.
Haissem Hassan surged forward with a dazzling run before finding Mohamed Salah, who quickly picked out Mostafa Ziko inside the penalty area.
Ziko calmly finished past Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano "Dibu" Martínez, sparking wild celebrations as Egypt believed they had doubled their advantage against the reigning world champions.
However, the celebrations were short-lived.
French referee François Letexier was instructed to review the incident on the pitchside monitor and determined that Marwan Attia had fouled Argentina centre-back Lisandro Martínez in Argentina's defensive third before the attacking move developed.
Letexier ruled that the foul had initiated Egypt's attacking phase, meaning the goal was disallowed after the VAR review.
Confusion follows before Egypt strike again
The decision initially caused confusion around the stadium after Letexier announced the outcome.
Supporters only fully understood what had happened when the giant halo scoreboard changed the score beneath Egypt's flag from "2" to "1".
Argentina fans erupted in celebration, reacting as though their side had just scored.
Lionel Messi took the resulting free-kick as Argentina resumed their search for an equaliser.
However, Egypt quickly responded, with Haissem Hassan once again providing the assist for Mostafa Ziko to restore their two-goal advantage.
The Pharaohs added another goal in the 67th minute to strengthen their grip on the contest.
Argentina refused to surrender, though, and produced a spirited late comeback by scoring twice to draw level.
The winner of the dramatic Round of 16 encounter will progress to the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals, where either Colombia or Switzerland awaits, while the losing side will be knocked out of the tournament.
Source: YEN.com.gh
