Egypt’s star forward Mostafa Ziko didn’t mince words after his team’s heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Argentina in the World Cup round of 16. He said the whole thing was rigged.
“It is clear that this tournament has been fixed,” Ziko told reporters after the match, his frustration boiling over. “But God is sufficient for us.”
His anger wasn’t just about losing. It was about how they lost. Egypt led 2-0 with less than 20 minutes to play before Argentina stormed back. Lionel Messi pulled one back, then Julian Alvarez equalized. Then, in stoppage time, Enzo Fernandez headed in what turned out to be the winner.
But the Egyptian side insists they were robbed well before that final whistle.
Ziko had a goal disallowed in the first half that would have made it 1-0. Replays showed it was a tight call, but Egypt felt it was clearly onside. Then, with the score still 2-1, Mohamed Salah went down in the box. He wanted a penalty. The referee, Francois Letexier, waved play on. Argentina instantly counter-attacked and scored the equalizer.
“The referee was really not fair,” Ziko said. “The injustice was clear. We did a really good job in the early stages of the match. A 2-0 lead isn’t enough to beat Argentina.”
Coach says he’ll never watch another match
Egypt manager Hossam Hassan was even more direct. He was shown a yellow card during the game and didn’t hold back afterward.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play,” Hassan said. “A penalty was ruled out and a second incident that should have been checked for a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR. A second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.”
He pointed fingers at external pressure, suggesting the officials felt the weight of keeping the defending champions alive in the tournament.
“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition? Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running?” Hassan said in an interview with beIN Sports. “The world champions benefited from support at every level.”
Hassan then dropped a bombshell of his own. “Once I’m back in my country and at home, I’ll never watch the World Cup again, because there’s no justice in this competition.”
12 p.m. kickoff added to the list of complaints
Hassan also took issue with the match starting at noon Eastern Time inside Atlanta Stadium, even though the venue has air conditioning. “Whoever schedules these matches is someone who has never played football,” he said. “You never schedule a football match at 12 noon.”
Ziko, meanwhile, apologized to Egypt’s fans. “We wanted to make you all happy. It was not in the cards. It was the referee. The cup is directed towards Argentina.”
Argentina move on to the quarterfinals. Egypt heads home with a bitter taste that won’t go away anytime soon.
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