'They wanted Messi to stay!': Egypt explode after Argentina escape

Egypt's dream of producing one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history ended in heartbreak and fury, as Argentina staged a dramatic late comeback to win 3-2 in Atlanta, but the Pharaohs were left convinced a series of controversial refereeing decisions had denied them.

Leading the reigning world champions 2-0 with just 12 minutes remaining, Egypt looked destined to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history. Instead, goals from Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez completed an astonishing Argentine turnaround, with the decisive strike arriving deep into stoppage time.

Pharaohs turned into mummies! Argentina's impressive comeback scripts Egypt's tragic World Cup ending

Yet the football itself quickly became secondary.

Egypt's anger centred on two incidents they believe changed the course of the match. First, Mostafa Zico thought he had doubled the Pharaohs' advantage while they were leading 1-0, only for VAR to disallow the goal after ruling Marwan Attia had committed a foul on Lisandro Martinez at the very beginning of the move.

Then came an even bigger source of outrage. Seconds before Fernandez headed home Argentina's winner, Mohamed Salah appeared to be pulled down inside the penalty area, but French referee Francois Letexier allowed play to continue and VAR did not intervene, leaving the Egyptian bench and players furious.

When the final whistle blew, the Pharaohs collapsed to the turf in disbelief, while head coach Hossam Hassan launched a remarkable attack on the officiating and even questioned whether forces beyond the pitch had determined football's biggest stage.

"We were treated unfairly. We suffered injustice," Hassan said.

"There are many things to question on and off the pitch. Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay. Argentina seemed to receive support at every level."

The Egyptian boss was equally incensed by the decision to rule out Zico's goal and by the refusal to review the challenge on Salah.

"We haven't seen respect or fair play. Our second goal was remarkably disallowed, and the penalty on Salah wasn't even checked by VAR. We all saw his shirt being pulled. Life is unfair, but why should sport be unfair too?"

Zico echoed his coach's frustration after the match.

"The referee was really unfair. The injustice was obvious. It felt unfair from the very beginning."

The controversy overshadowed what had looked like a historic night for Egypt. Yasser Ibrahim had given the Africans an early lead, while goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir produced one of the saves of the tournament by denying Messi from the penalty spot.

For more than 75 minutes, the Pharaohs frustrated the defending champions and stood on the brink of a famous victory before Argentina's relentless pressure finally told.

Romero sparked the comeback in the 79th minute, Messi restored parity four minutes later, and Fernandez completed the turnaround with a towering stoppage-time header that sent Argentina into the quarter-finals - and left Egypt convinced they had been robbed of their greatest-ever World Cup triumph.

WORLD CUP - KNOCKOUT STAGE

Quarter-finals

Thursday

23.00: (1.60) France (4.00) Morocco (6.20)

Friday

22.00: (1.65) Spain (4.00) Belgium (5.50)

Sunday

00.00: (4.00) Norway (3.70) England (1.90)

04.00: (1.75) Argentina (3.50) Switzerland (5.50)

***odds are subject to change***