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The Egyptian Football Association expressed its deep dissatisfaction with the refereeing performance in the match that the national team lost 3-2 to Argentina in the round of 16 of the World Cup on Tuesday.

In a statement on its website on Wednesday, the Egyptian Football Association said: The Egyptian Football Association expresses its deep dissatisfaction with the performance of the refereeing crew that officiated the Egypt-Argentina match led by French referee François Letexier, and with some decisions related to VAR technology which raised many question marks, especially in light of the widespread criticism from many media outlets and sports analysts of this performance. The Association affirms its adherence to the rights of the national team and its commitment to take all measures provided by the regulations to preserve fairness and integrity of the competition.

Egypt squandered their 2-0 lead after scoring one goal in each half through Yasser Ibrahim and Mustafa Abdel Rawouf (Ziko), then conceded three goals in the last ten minutes and lost the chance to advance to the quarter-finals.

The French referee angered the technical staff of the Egyptian national team for disallowing a goal by Ziko in the 62nd minute. This goal, which came after a brilliant attack thanks to Haitham Hassan's skill and Mohamed Salah's pass, was disallowed after a VAR review, which found that Marwan Attia committed a foul against Lisandro Martínez at the start of the attack.

He also refused to resort to VAR to award a penalty for Salah, and the ball rebounded to give Argentina the winning goal in stoppage time.

The statement added: Despite the end of the national team's journey in the tournament, pride in what our players have achieved will remain, as they showed commitment and fighting spirit that earned everyone's respect, and presented an honorable image of Egyptian football.

Egypt coach Hossam Hassan heavily criticized FIFA after the loss and accused it of favoring the defending champion for commercial considerations.

Argentina, the 2022 world champion, will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals next Sunday in Kansas City.

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