Egypt's Mostafa Ziko claims 2026 World Cup is 'fixed'

World champions Argentina found themselves 2-0 down with 15 minutes remaining against Egypt yesterday, despite being the firm favourites. Egypt had battled to a 2-0 lead, and they even had a goal ruled out for a foul in the buildup.

Lionel Messi and Argentina were staring down defeat, but three goals in 15 minutes saw the reigning world champions pull off a spectacular comeback and win 3-2 late on.

Argentina had produced a magical performance in Atlanta to silence their doubters and book their spot in the World Cup quarter-finals against Switzerland. The South American team were seemingly out of the tournament, but their champions mentality helped them fight back into the game and go on and win the knockout fixture in regular time.

Following the match, Egypt goalscorer Mostafa Ziko was left annoyed with the result and made some bold comments during his post-match interview. He said,

"The referee was really not fair. The injustice was clear. There's been an unfairness right from the start of the match. A 2-0 lead isn't enough to beat Argentina. It's clear that this tournament has been fixed."

Egypt had a second goal ruled out due to a foul in the build-up, but the foul occurred at the start of the counter-attack, leading to fans from across the world claiming the decision was unfair.

Decisions have also seemingly gone in Argentina's favour throughout the tournament, such as goals being overturned and cards not being received for their players. In Argentina's first game of the tournament, Lionel Messi committed a late challenge and avoided any punishment for the decision. Falorin Balogun received a red card for a similar challenge to the one Messi committed, but Messi's tackle went unpunished.

Social media has seen fans complain regarding the officiating towards Argentina, and it will be interesting to see going forward if any decisions cause commotion on social media.