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Ian Wright perfectly sums up Argentina vs Egypt VAR controversy and even Roy Keane backed down
Home>Football>Football News>FIFA World Cup
Published 09:00 8 Jul 2026 GMT+1

Ian Wright perfectly sums up Argentina vs Egypt VAR controversy and even Roy Keane backed down

The World Cup pundit was furious about one moment in Argentina's win, Roy Keane couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Ben McCrum

Ben McCrum

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Ian Wright made a bold claim in a rant about the VAR drama surrounding Argentina's win over Egypt and even Roy Keane couldn't stop him.

The World Cup knockout stages are well underway and with them has come plenty of drama and controversy.

During what was arguably the best match of the tournament so far, Argentina booked a place in the quarter-finals after a dramatic fixture that saw tempers flare on the Egypt bench.

After Egypt took an early lead through defender Yasser Ibrahim and minutes later saved a Lionel Messi penalty, the underdogs looked like they could be on for one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.

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Egypt fans dared to dream even more in the second half as forward Mostafa Ziko doubled their lead in the 67th minute.

But the reigning champions weren't to be denied as a spectacular comeback with goals from Cristian Romero, Messi and a 93rd minute winner from Enzo Fernandez securing Argentina's spot in the quarter-finals.

However, ITV pundit Wright has claimed Argentina's winning goal should have been disallowed for a foul on Mo Salah during a passionate rant that even left Keane at a loss for words.

"That's what happening with VAR now, they're pulling it back," a furious Wright said post-match.

"If you're going to pull it back for Argentina on the edge of the box to disallow a goal, you have to pull it back for this one with Mo Salah. He's been caught. Whatever we say, it might be minimal, he's been caught and then they go up the other end."

Keane interrupted, adding: "The only thing I'd say with this one when he does cut, why does his legs give way?"

But Wright quickly shut him down, saying: "Look Roy, we're talking that. We have to see the Lisandro Martinez one as well, but they've given one for that, they've disallowed a goal for that. It's absolutely a Pandora's Box."

READ MORE: Unseen footage of Lionel Messi's encounter with Egypt coach as World Cup match turns ugly

And that's not the only controversial VAR moment that Wright thinks Argentina came out on the better side of, as he also criticised the decision to rule out Ziko's goal due to a foul on Tagliafico earlier in the passage of play.

He added: “If we’re going to start, is that what VAR is for? That’s a long way to go back and it’s a long way to go back for Argentina to compose themselves.”

When asked if an Argentina goal would be disallowed in similar circumstances, Gary Neville replied: “Unlikely.”

Egypt's Mostafa Ziko claims World Cup is 'fixed' in stunning post-match rant

Like Wright, Ziko clearly wasn't happy with the fact that his goal, which would have put the African nation 2-0 up, was chalked off under controversial circumstances.

“The referee was really not fair,” a furious Ziko 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.”

Egypt manager echoed these feelings, claiming he will “never watch the World Cup again, because there’s no justice in this competition.”

He said: “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.

“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.”

Regardless of the controversy, Argentina have now progressed to the quarter-finals, where they will face Switzerland in the early hours of Sunday morning at the Kansas City Stadium.



Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/ITV Sport

Topics: Ian Wright, Roy Keane, FIFA World Cup, Football, Argentina

Ben McCrum
Ben McCrum

Ben is a sports journalist who specialises in football, Formula One and MMA. He has written for publications such as Manchester Evening News, WiganToday, Manchester World and beIN Sports. Throughout his career, he has interviewed top athletes including Gareth Southgate, Luke Littler, Tom Aspinall and Jenson Button.

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@benmcc14

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