‘This tournament is fixed’: Egypt star hits out at FIFA after Argentina’s shock defeat
Egyptian player Mustafa Zico took to Instagram to criticize FIFA for the referee’s decisions in their game against Argentina.
The striker did not ignore expressing his sadness following Egypt’s painful elimination from the tournament.
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Mustafa Zico took to Instagram to blast FIFA
After the hit game, Zico went public with his anger on social media, writing a strong message directly to the governing body of football.
“You brought us here to cheat all the other teams?
?? Egyptian player Mustafa Zico took to Instagram to criticize FIFA for the referee’s decisions in their game against Argentina.
“You brought us here just to cheat all the other teams? This tournament is fixed for your favorite and we all see it. God is enough… pic.twitter.com/vYLuR5OR7a
— Legion (@_01Legion) July 8, 2026
The conflict that happened when Egypt lost 3-2 to Argentina
The social media frenzy follows an amazing and competitive World Cup match at the Atlanta Stadium, where defending champions Argentina came back from a 2-0 defeat.
Egypt got a shock winner through Yasser Ibrahim’s header and Zico’s clinical strike in the 67th minute.
However, the big change happened at the beginning of the second half when Zico scored what he thought was Egypt’s second goal.
Following a lengthy and controversial VAR review, the referee disallowed the goal due to an alleged foul play at the start of the build-up.
“It is clear that this competition has been fixed.”
Mostafa Zico of Egypt is not happy with some of the decisions in their game against Argentina. pic.twitter.com/VbDdFbkRBC
—BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 7, 2026
The last fifteen minutes of the game ended in chaos. Argentina staged a thrilling comeback, with Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi, and Enzo Fernández scoring in quick succession.
The Egyptian side were left frustrated as the referee turned down two penalty appeals by the Pharaohs just before Fernandez scored the winner in time.
The winning goal was also strongly opposed by the Egyptian camp, who believe that there are mistakes in the construction that should have prevented the goal from standing.
The Egyptian FA has now launched a formal complaint against the French referees.
Hossam Hassan’s booking sparks another controversy
Another talk of the game came when the Egyptian manager, Hossam Hassan, was sent off with a yellow card after making an “X” with his hands on the fence.
The crossed arms “X” signal is FIFA’s global initiative to report allegations of racial abuse. Under FIFA’s anti-discrimination procedures, a player, coach or team official can use this action to alert referees to an alleged incident of racist abuse.
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According to FIFA rules, the signal is intended to activate a three-step process: first to stop the game, then to stop it if the abuse continues, and finally to leave the game if the situation cannot be corrected.
?TENDING: FIFA has created a law where making an X sign with the arms triggers an anti-racism rule.
Today the coach of Egypt made a sign to report a racist offense committed by Argentina, but the referees ignored it and continued the match. pic.twitter.com/P94P6nKyyi
— Polymarket Sports (@PolymarketSport) July 7, 2026
Hassan’s performance did not lead to the game being stopped. Instead, the referee booked the Egyptian manager and allowed the game to continue, a decision that quickly became another source of anger in the Egyptian camp and fueled criticism of the player after the final whistle.
