After a dramatic Round of 16 that was defined by late comebacks, penalty shootouts and major upsets, the FIFA World Cup quarterfinal clashes are now defined. France, Morocco, Norway, England, Spain, Belgium, Argentina and Switzerland are the eight teams to have prevailed.
The four highly-anticipated, blockbuster quarterfinals will be played across the United States starting with France VS. Morocco at the Boston Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Thursday, July 9.
However, the tournament continues to court controversy; First, FIFA is facing a backlash over its decision to overturn USA’s Folarin Balogun’s redcard against Bosnia and Herzegovina after “a call” by U.S President Donald Trump. Second, Egypt, who had a goal disallowed when they were winning their round of 16 tie 1-0, is now accusing FIFA of ‘fix’, alleging that the world football governing body is favouring the defending champions.
What happened?
It all started when Argentina were trailing 1-0 in Atlanta, and Haissem Hassan brought down Nicolas Tagliafico in the box. Referee gave a penalty straightaway, even though a section of fans and players felt the spotkick was so easy to be awarded.
Although the spotkick, taken by Lionel Messi, was eventually saved by Egypt’s Mostafa Shobeir, it set up a game Egypt now say was “rigged” from the onset.
The Messi-inspired Argentina would roar back from 2-0 down to reach the quarterfinals, but Egypt felt they should have had a penalty for a foul on Mohamed Salah in the build-up to Argentina’s winning goal.
Speaking after the match, Egyptian striker Mostafa Zico claimed the competition had been “fixed”.
“The referee was really not fair,” an incensed Ziko, who had a goal disallowed, said at full-time. “The injustice was clear. We did a really good job in the early stages of the match. There’s been an unfairness, right from the start from the match. A 2-0 lead isn’t enough to beat Argentina. It is clear that this tournament has been fixed. But God is sufficient for us.”
Ziko later told Canadian broadcaster TSN: “We are so sorry (to the people of Egypt). I am so sorry. We wanted to make you all happy. It was not in the cards. It was the referee. The cup is directed towards Argentina.”
On his part, Egypt Coach Hassan Hossam, in protest to the decisions made by referee Francois Letexier, insisted that he will “never watch the World Cup again, because there’s no justice in this competition.”
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out and a second (incident) that should have been checked for a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR. A second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed. There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome.”
Hossam added: “Life is unfair. The world is unfair. OK, but why isn’t there any fairness in sports? I’m not convinced by this outcome and by the way things unfolded in this match.”
The Egyptian coach had a lot to say. “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition? Perhaps they wanted (Lionel) Messi to stay in the running? In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champions benefited from support at every level. I told the referee that what was happening wasn’t fair. It’s an undeserved victory for Argentina. Once I’m back in my country and at home, I’ll never watch the World Cup again, because there’s no justice in this competition,” he told beIN Sports, via France24.
