The aftermath of Argentina vs. Egypt is still ongoing. Things have not cooled down, as the Egyptian Football Association decided to file a complaint against the referee in the game. But the fans are having none of it.

“The Egyptian FA have lodged a formal complaint to FIFA, citing ‘double standards’ from the officiating team in their match against Argentina,” BBC Sport reported after the complaint news broke.

Egypt is still refusing to let this one go after their heartbreaking 3-2 defeat against Argentina in Atlanta. The Egyptian Football Association has officially complained to FIFA over several refereeing and VAR decisions that happened during the Round of 16 clash.  

They have also asked FIFA to remove French referee François Letexier from the remaining World Cup matches immediately. Egypt believes repeated decisions against them changed the game, leaving players and supporters feeling robbed after 3 goals in 15 minutes.  

The complaint focuses on the moments that Egypt believed had changed their night, before Argentina completed a stunning comeback.  

Mostafa Ziko’s second goal was ruled out after VAR spotted Marwan Attia fouling Lisandro Martínez during the buildup. It was also argued that Mohamed Salah was denied a penalty before Argentina raced forward and scored the stoppage-time winner.  

Another appeal involving Alexis Mac Allister pulling Hamdi Fathy’s shirt inside the area was ignored by officials, according to Egypt. 

“If they want Argentina to win so bad, why call everyone to come and participate?” Head Coach Hossan Hassan said in the post-match press conference.

Even with those complaints, changing the final result remains the hardest part of Egypt’s challenge before FIFA. Football rules bear that refereeing decisions usually stay final unless officials clearly misapply the Laws of the Game.  

That means controversial calls alone are rarely enough for FIFA to overturn results or order another match. Egypt may receive answers about the officiating, but Argentina’s quarterfinal place will remain secure. 

And the fans now don’t understand what Egypt is trying to achieve by doing this.

Football fans are not happy with Egypt FA

Fans understand why Egypt were unhappy after the game, but after things have cooled down, many have understood that whatever Egypt is asking for might not even be there.

“I don’t think they were robbed at all, genuinely loolll they were just terrible at defending the last 15 mins they were 2-0 up never a robbery,” said one fan talking about the incident. Another fan added to this, saying, “This is the definition of a sore loser.”

Was there a foul on Martinez before Egypt scored their second goal? Yes, clearly. Was there enough contact on Salah in the box to give him a penalty in the dying minutes? No, and forget contact; Alvarez got the ball first, and then there was minimal contact. So that wasn’t a penalty.

“I swear Croatia faced the biggest injustice in the world, but they did not cry like this. This isn’t even half as bad as what happened to Croatia. But no one cared after a day cause it benefited Ronaldo,” wrote a fan pointing to the offside call in the dying minutes of the Round of 32 clash.

That last goal by Croatia was ruled an offside because it touched the hair of the Croatian player who was in an offside position. However, looking at the footage, there was no visible contact. If that goal had stood, Croatia would have taken the game into extra time.

“We Africans have a serious problem,” another fan said. “We’re often too quick to find someone else to blame for our failures instead of taking responsibility.”

“With the behaviour of their manager, Egypt should be banned from the next competition,” wrote another fan.

After the game, the Egyptian manager allegedly argued with Argentina fans and spat on them.

All this adds another layer of tension for FIFA to handle.