Egypt’s fairytale World Cup run ended in cruel fashion on Tuesday, as Argentina scored three unanswered goals in the final quarter of the match to snatch a 3-2 comeback win in the Round of 16 and send the Pharaohs home.
Mostafa Zico, who had given Egypt what looked like a match-winning cushion, could barely hide his frustration afterwards.
The winger had already seen one goal chalked off by VAR for an earlier foul in the buildup, before finally doubling Egypt’s lead in the 67th minute following a slick move down the right involving Mohamed Salah.
For a long stretch, it looked enough. Argentina didn’t find a way back until the 79th minute, when Cristian Romero headed in from a Lionel Messi cross. Messi levelled soon after, and Enzo Fernandez completed the turnaround deep into stoppage time.
Zico didn’t sugarcoat how it felt to watch a famous win disappear so late on. “The match was in our hands and it slipped away at the last moment,” he said. “Strange things happened on the pitch.”
He also pointed to the disallowed goal as a turning point in the contest, suggesting the officiating had gone against his side at key moments — though he stopped short of elaborating further, saying only that everyone had seen it for themselves.
Zico didn’t stop there. Reflecting on the result, he congratulated Argentina but made clear he felt the outcome had been shaped by more than what happened on the pitch, at one point calling the tournament “rigged.”
Despite the pain of the exit, Zico made clear Egypt never treated their lead as a formality against the reigning champions.
“We know very well that we are playing against the world champions,” he said, adding that a win built purely on Argentina’s own quality would have meant more to him than one shaped by contentious moments.
It’s a bitter way for Egypt’s historic tournament to end — their first-ever World Cup knockout win, over Australia, now followed by an agonising last-16 exit.
But for a team with no prior knockout-stage victory to their name before this summer, the run itself will be remembered long after the sting of Atlanta fades.
Argentina moves on to face Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
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