An English report recalled one of the most famous moments in World Cup history, ahead of the anticipated match tomorrow between Argentina and England in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup, sarcastically wondering whether Lionel Messi is capable of repeating what legend Diego Maradona did when he scored with his hand against the English in 1986, but this time with the presence of VAR technology.

The British network Sky Sports pointed out that Messi, who faces England for the first time in his international career, stands before a new opportunity to follow in Maradona's footsteps, after finding himself facing the same opponent against whom the 'legend' created his most famous football moments, when he scored the 'Hand of God' goal and the 'Goal of the Century' in the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals.

However, the report added a striking phrase with a sarcastic tone, saying: 'Scoring with the hand might be difficult with the presence of video technology, but ask the fans of Egypt, and perhaps they would not rule it out.'

The reference came amid the major refereeing controversy that accompanied the Egypt-Argentina match in the round of 16 of the World Cup, a match that witnessed widespread Egyptian protests over a number of influential decisions by French referee François Letexier.

The Egyptian Football Association had submitted an official complaint to the International Federation (FIFA), demanding that Letexier be excluded from the rest of the tournament's matches, after his decisions sparked widespread controversy, most notably disallowing a goal for the Egyptian national team and refusing to award a penalty to Mohamed Salah before Argentina's third goal. On the technical level, the Sky Sports report believes that Messi is still the most important player in the Argentine national team, after scoring eight goals in the tournament, tying for the top scorer list with Kylian Mbappé, and also topping the list of most chances created, big chances created, and through balls, which makes the task for the England team under Thomas Tuchel to stop him one of the most difficult challenges in the tournament.

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