World Cup quarterfinals set amid Egypt FIFA complaint

The World Cup quarterfinals are set after a volatile round of 16 that sent eight teams through and left FIFA facing fresh questions over refereeing, VAR and political influence.

France, Morocco, Norway, England, Spain, Belgium, Argentina and Switzerland have reached the last eight. The quarterfinal schedule opens Thursday, July 9, with France facing Morocco at Boston Stadium at 4 p.m. local time, 20:00 GMT. Spain play Belgium on Friday, July 10, at Los Angeles Stadium at noon, 19:00 GMT. Norway meet England on Saturday, July 11, at Miami Stadium at 5 p.m., 21:00 GMT, before Argentina play Switzerland later that day at Kansas City Stadium at 8 p.m., 01:00 GMT Sunday.

The last-16 results were Morocco 3-0 Canada, France 1-0 Paraguay, Norway 2-1 Brazil, England 3-2 Mexico, Spain 1-0 Portugal, Belgium 4-1 the United States, Argentina 3-2 Egypt and Switzerland 4-3 over Colombia on penalties.

Argentina’s comeback win over Egypt has become the tournament’s latest flashpoint. The Egyptian Football Federation said Wednesday it had filed a complaint with FIFA and asked for the officiating crew from the match to be removed from the World Cup.

“Hany Aburida, President of the Egyptian Football Federation, filed a complaint with Fifa, demanding an investigation into the French referee Francois Letexier… after the serious refereeing mistakes committed by the team of referees and double standards, which caused the Egypt team to lose the match and leave the World Cup,” the federation said in a statement quoted by The Guardian.

The Guardian reported that Letexier ruled out a Mostafa Ziko goal while Egypt led 1-0 after VAR spotted a foul on Lisandro Martinez earlier in the move. A few minutes later, Ziko scored to put Egypt 2-0 ahead before Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi brought Argentina level. Egypt also said it should have been awarded a penalty for a pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy in the buildup to Enzo Fernandez’s winning goal.

Al Jazeera described the disputed VAR decision as a late intervention that disallowed Egypt’s second goal and said it shifted momentum before Argentina completed their comeback.

“Aburida demanded the investigation of the entire team of referees, including the video technology referees, because of the blatant errors and insisting on not reviewing some of the footage that we believe are in favour of the Egyptian national team, and we see in it the Pharaohs’ right to a correct goal and a penalty,” the Egyptian federation said.

The federation said Aburida also demanded “the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes and proving the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team”.

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan accused FIFA of favouring Argentina. “Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running,” Hassan told beIN Sports, according to Al Jazeera. “The world champions received support at every level.”

The controversy follows FIFA’s decision to lift a one-match suspension for U.S. striker Folarin Balogun after President Donald Trump intervened with FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Balogun had been sent off in the U.S. victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1, a red card that would normally have ruled him out of the next match. FIFA has said the suspension was lifted by a disciplinary committee.

Associated Press reported that European Parliament lawmakers Barry Andrews, Lara Wolters and Niels Fuglsang are seeking an investigation by the FIFA Ethics Committee into Infantino and whether political pressure played a role. They said 35 colleagues had signed a letter backing the effort.

“The beauty of sport is that it is based on impartial and transparent rules. When Infantino allows political pressure to determine who gets to play, this sense of fairness goes out the window,” the lawmakers said.

Al Jazeera also reported that FIFA suspended two U.S. staff members, team manager Sam Zapatka and US Soccer Federation Vice President of Security Frank Pannell, from the Belgium match. FIFA did not explain the discipline, and the federation said only that it was not related to the effort to have Balogun’s suspension lifted.