In a dramatic World Cup match that saw Egypt lose a 2-0 lead, Egyptian forward Zico did not hold back his frustration with the refereeing, calling the tournament “rigged” after Argentina’s stunning 12-minute comeback.

Zico, who had scored Egypt’s second goal to double their advantage, saw one of his earlier goals disallowed by VAR due to a foul at the start of the play. Despite his efforts, Argentina overturned the scoreline in the second half, leaving Egypt eliminated.

After the match, Zico took the microphone to express his deep disappointment: “It’s an injustice, a clear and obvious injustice. The referee wasted the effort of an entire country. From the start, he was against us. We shouldn’t be leaving the World Cup like this when we were winning 2-0. The tournament is rigged. I apologize to our fans because we couldn’t make it, but honestly, it wasn’t in our hands. It was in the referee’s hands. The tournament was rigged from the beginning.”

He also criticized referee François Letexier’s decisions, highlighting a series of questionable calls in the second half. “We played from the first minute without fear. We came out to win, and that showed throughout the match. But in the second half, very strange things happened. Many fouls were called against us, and a goal was disallowed for reasons I don’t even understand. A lot of strange things happened today.”

Egypt’s coach, Hossam Hassan, echoed these concerns, suggesting external pressure influenced the referee. “It seemed like Argentina pressured the referee, leading to this outcome. The third goal by Argentina wasn’t even reviewed by VAR. We all saw how our player was pulled by the shirt, but the play wasn’t checked to disallow the goal. Life is unfair. I won’t watch the remaining World Cup matches. This is my way of raising my voice. I won’t watch another game.”

This controversy adds to ongoing debates about fairness and transparency in international football tournaments, reminding us how much the integrity of the game matters to fans and players alike.