'Everything worked against us' — Egypt's Zico fumes after Argentina defeat

Egypt forward Zico believes everything worked against his team as he criticised the officiating following his side's dramatic 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.

The forward, who found the net during the contest but also had another goal ruled out following a VAR review, admitted he was emotional after Egypt's exit and suggested both the result and the refereeing contributed to his tears.

"Both. We were hard done by [the referee] today, and everyone saw that," Zico said when asked whether he was upset by the elimination or the officiating. "I won't talk about something like this,” he said.

Egypt appeared to be in complete control after taking a 2-0 lead before Argentina staged a remarkable comeback, scoring three goals in the closing stages to seal victory.

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Reflecting on the collapse, Zico insisted the momentum shifted because of decisions that went against his team.

"We were winning 2-0. After the 2-0 result, everything went against us and worked against us. I don't even know why the second goal was disallowed. "I don't see any reason for it. But we must look for a solution so that a second goal doesn't come. He wanted to disallow the third one too, but thank God, God didn't grant him success,” he added.

Zico also maintained that Egypt were denied a clear penalty before Argentina scored the decisive goal on the counter-attack.

"The refereeing was obvious in front of everyone. I won't talk about it, the refereeing was clear. We had a goal disallowed, and we had a penalty. The penalty was turned against us into a counter-attack goal,” he said.

FKA/JE

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