Former Spanish referee Mateu Lahoz commented on the controversy surrounding the Egypt vs. Argentina match in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup.

Egyptian players and the coaching staff attacked French referee François Letexier for disallowing a goal by Mustafa Ziko, in addition to not reviewing the video technology for the third goal that went into the Pharaohs' net.

Regarding the level of officiating, Mateu Lahoz expressed his opinion on the events of the Argentina-Egypt match, saying: "I think the French colleague should have gone to review both incidents on the video screen, not just the disallowed goal for Egypt, but also the third goal for Argentina (3-2)."

Lahoz added, in statements highlighted by the Spanish newspaper Marca: "The referee focused on only one incident, and the truth is that I do not like the way video technology is currently used, because it is not considered a second chance for the referee to review decisions."

The Argentine national team will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the tournament, the same stage it advanced past in the 2022 Qatar World Cup after a controversial match against the Netherlands, decided in extra time and penalty kicks in favor of Argentina after the match ended 2-2.

That match saw 18 cards shown, the highest record in World Cup history, and 48 fouls counted between the two teams, with Argentine players complaining about the foul that led to the equalizing goal (2-2) in the 90+11th minute of stoppage time, which totaled 13 minutes.

Lahoz, who officiated that match at the time, confirmed that over time he becomes more convinced of his decisions, saying: "Time passes and I confirm, calmly, that this match was one of the most successful matches we have had from a technical point of view. We were completely right about everything, and if anyone watches the match again, they will see it. Yes, we were lenient, but we were neutral and not at all carried away in using cards, always in line with FIFA's decisions and guidelines."

He continued: "It was indeed a highly charged match due to the statements preceding it, and things went as they did, with tension gripping both teams. I learned of my appointment to officiate the match very shortly before, specifically at 23:00 two days before the match, and I accepted it and prepared very well. Strangely, as we have seen in recent days, there is a lot of noise again around Argentina's matches."