FIFA accused of ‘pro-Argentina bias’ as VAR inconsistencies and favourable decisions spark ‘rigged’ backlash

Lionel Messi and Argentina have booked their place in the quarter finals of the 2026 World Cup.

But many feel that the officiating in their 3-2 comeback victory over Egypt was integral in ensuring that their bid to defending their title as World Champions continued.

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Yasser Ibrahim’s opener in the first half stunned la Albiceleste, before Messi made unwanted history by missing a penalty – his fourth miss from eight attempts at World Cup finals.

This marked Argentina’s ninth penalty in the previous three World Cups, while Brazil have received just 14 in 23 iterations, and Germany having 15 in 20.

It appeared as though Messi and co’s tournament was coming to an end after a second goal from the Egyptians was disallowed by VAR due to a perceived foul on Lisandro Martínez at the other end of the pitch in the build up.

But a few minutes later, Mostafa Ziko fired home to make it 2-0 to the African side with 20 minutes to play.

However, Tottenham captain Cristian Romero headed home to halve the deficit before Messi’s thunderous volley inside the box drew Argentina level with under 10 minutes left in the contest.

Enzo Fernandez completed the dramatic comeback with the stoppage-time winner, though this goal was not without controversy.

This was because VAR decided to not intervene on this occasion, despite claims that Mohamed Salah was fouled by Alexis Mac Allister in the box which led to the breakaway counter attack – not too dissimilar from the foul that occurred in the buildup to Egypt’s disallowed goal.

Egypt players and staff were furious at this as ugly scenes brewed at the end of the game, with multiple yellow cards brandished, while a red coach was shown by French referee Francois Letexier to goalkeeping coach Saafan El-Sagheer.

After the game, Egypt manager Hossam Hassan didn’t hold back in voicing his opinion that a severe injustice in the form of bias toward Argentina was at play, and that the final result was ultimately determined by “internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it.”

Hassan may have a point, with many people online having pointed out an apparent favoritism in Messi and his nation, including international diplomacy expert, Shaiel Ben-Ephraim.

In a highly detailed post posted to X, international diplomacy expert Shaiel Ben-Ephraim laid out some of the circumstantial evidence from across Argentina’s 2026 World Cup campaign that has led some to believe decisions are going their way.

While many of the decisions he lists are subjective, and by no means official, it does give a sense of just how many contentious calls seem to be going in Argentina’s favour as people ask just how much help Messi needs to win the World Cup for a second time.

Ben-Ephraim signed off his nine-point list with a scathing sentence which read, “FIFA cannot be trusted. Egypt was robbed. Argentina are coasting to another title under FIFA protection.”

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Big Sam weighs in with ‘rigged’ claims

As the world continues to grapple with what unfolded in the game, with more ammunition and evidence being provided to make the claim – albeit just circumstantial – that Argentina are getting an easy ride, Sam Allardyce has been outspoken about his view of it all.

During an appearance on talkSPORT Breakfast on Wednesday, the former Premier League and England boss shared his belief that the tournament could be ‘rigged’ to give Messi his second World Cup.

“I’m sick of refereeing nearly from start to finish in this tournament,” Allardyce told Jeff Stelling and Gabby Agbonlahor.

“It just proves what’s happening when Donald Trump can interfere and get a decision changed and undermine the game completely.

“I’m not happy about the refereeing. I don’t think that was a foul [the foul on Martinez in the buildup to Egypt’s disallowed goal]. He trod on his toe, come on. He [Martinez] dove and squealed like a little baby.

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“What about Salah? He [Mac Allister] stood on Salah’s toe in the penalty area in the last minute, so that’s got to be a penalty. It’s just absolutely diabolical, and you do wonder if its – I’ll say this and I probably shouldn’t really – but you do wonder whether it’s rigged. You do.

“And I’m a professional footballer who has done it all my life. But I look at it and I wonder, and I go ‘my god, what is happening? … I just don’t feel comfortable with it and the way it’s going.”

But the controversy-fuelled campaign for Argentina may not be over yet either, having set up a quarter final clash with Switzerland after they advanced after a penalty shoot-out victory over Colombia.

Having enjoyed a relatively easy ride to the quarter finals, having not yet come up against an opposition that ranks inside the top 10 in the world, with Austria being their highest-ranked opposition so far (23rd).

That trend continues with Switzerland, who rank 14th in FIFA’s world rankings.

Argentina also appear to be heavily favored by referees when it comes to punishment for fouls, having committed 58 fouls across the tournament in which they have received just three yellow cards, averaging a card per every 22 fouls.

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For context, of the eight remaining teams left in the tournament, that is the largest foul-to-card ratio, with potential semi-final opponents England being brandished a card per every seven fouls on average.

And, of course, to add more fuel to the raging fire, the matchup between leading tournament favorites France and Morocco marks the first time this tournament that all five officials are from the same country.

That country? Argentina, of course, who are known for their unsavory history with France at the World Cup.

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