E-Paper
Sign In
From Hand of God to Argentina-Egypt: Why World Cup controversies never die
From Maradona’s Hand of God to Argentina-Egypt’s controversy, World Cup refereeing decisions have sparked outrage and created football’s most enduring debates
- PUBLISHED: Thu 9 Jul 2026, 12:44 AM UPDATED: Thu 9 Jul 2026, 3:13 PM
It’s only during a football World Cup that even the most impartial fans can sound jingoistic. Millions of England supporters who spent a lifetime calling Diego Maradona a ‘cheat’ for his Hand of God goal in the 1986 World Cup at Azteca rarely raise their voices above a whisper every time pundits revisit the Wembley 'ghost goal'.
With the 1966 World Cup final delicately poised between hosts England and West Germany at a packed Wembley, Geoff Hurst's shot from close range hit the crossbar and bounced on the line before being cleared by the German defenders.
Recommended For You
The England players celebrated the goal despite the uncertainty over whether the ball had crossed the line.
The referee, Gottfried Dienst of Switzerland, had not seen it clearly either, but he awarded the goal after consulting with the linesman.
England went on to win the final, their only World Cup triumph, by a 4-2 margin.
But the shadow of that ‘ghost goal’ has lingered over their football history ever since.
It’s a chapter nobody wants to discuss in English football.
In England, the very mention of Maradona, though, can lead to intense debates over his place among the greatest footballers of all time.
How can you hail Maradona as the GOAT when he punched the ball while going for a header?
The referee, Ali Bin Nasser of Tunisia, failed to see Maradona's hand in that 1986 World Cup clash, awarding the goal to Argentina.
That goal has now become one of the most iconic moments in football history. Fans in Argentina still celebrate the 'Hand of God', as Maradona called it, as though it were divine intervention.
But you will rarely come across an Argentinian who will not blast the referee for giving a penalty to West Germany against Argentina in the dying minutes of the 1990 World Cup final.
To this day, Argentinians believe that Edgardo Codesal, the Mexican referee, was wrong in awarding the penalty for what they call a legitimate tackle by Roberto Sensini on Rudi Völler.
Andreas Brehme scored from the spot as the Germans won the final, denying Argentina the chance to become the first team to win-back-to-back World Cup titles since Brazil in 1962.
A generation of Argentinians is still haunted by the sight of a distraught Maradona who cried inconsolably at the presentation ceremony.
Now fast forward to 2026: it’s Argentina’s stunning fightback against Egypt for a 3-2 win in the round of 16 that has left millions of Egyptians in a flood of tears.
Not because their team, who were leading 2-0 until the 79th minute, blew the chance to script the greatest win in their history.
But the ‘unfair’ decisions from match officials and the controversial use of the VAR (Video Assistant Referee), they believe, were responsible for their team’s exit.
Advantage for the big team?
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan was furious at the post-match press conference when asked about the disallowed goal from Mostafa Zico in the second half.
With Egypt leading 1-0, Zico scored from a devastating counter-attack only for the VAR to rule out the goal for a foul by an Egyptian player in the buildup.
The Egyptians also claimed the officials robbed them of a chance to get a penalty in the 92nd minute after Mo Salah went down in the Argentine box.
With the score tied at 2-2, the penalty at that moment would have been decisive.
But Julian Alvarez, who challenged Salah, appeared to have gone for the ball as the Egyptian striker tumbled after a slight contact, having already lost possession.
"Alvarez on Salah is not a penalty, it's not a foul," South American football expert Tim Vickery said on his YouTube channel.
But the Brazil-based British journalist admitted that it's always the big team that 'gets the benefit of the doubt' in a big match at the World Cup.
The Egyptian football association also launched a complaint about the two decisions, as Zico, whose goal was disallowed, even accused Fifa of favouring Argentina.
But Alejandro Magdaleno, a veteran Argentine sports journalist who was at the stadium on Tuesday, says this is all part of the sport.
“The history of football has always been the same. Usually, the teams that win say they did so despite the referee, while those that lose claim they were defeated because of the referee,” Magdaleno told the Khaleej Times.
“The referee made the right decisions, and the VAR acted fairly. There was a clear foul on Lisandro Martínez before the disallowed 2-0 goal. And Egypt's complaints before Argentina's 3-2 winner have no justification; there was nothing there that warranted a foul (against Salah).”
Sherouk Zakaria, a Dubai-based Egyptian media professional, said the match officials' inconsistencies were too apparent to ignore.
“We were winning, but in the last 10 minutes everything went upside down when Argentina scored three goals. To see how it unfolded was heartbreaking. It was not due to any mistakes (from our team), it was due to unfair decisions (from officials),” she said.
“Whenever Egyptian players made a foul, they got yellow cards, but not a single Argentine player was booked. The contrast was incredible.”
Zakaria said the entire country was heartbroken after the defeat.
“People were crying in the Fan Zone (in Dubai), because it was an injustice. It really makes you bitter. We saw the same unfair treatment in a football match that meant so much to every Egyptian," she said.
"I spoke to friends and family back home in Egypt, and it’s a very depressing scene. People could not get to sleep at night after the match. They didn’t feel like going to work in the morning. It’s going to be very hard to get over this setback for us because this was not football. This was something far bigger than that. You know we were so close to winning the biggest match of our lives against Argentina, the world champions, but we ended up losing due to very unfair decisions from the match officials.”
Jorge Ferrari, a Sharjah-based Argentine sports photographer who took the first official photographs of Cristiano Ronaldo for Al-Nassr after the Portuguese icon arrived in Saudi Arabia to sign for the Riyadh club in 2023, says he could relate to the raw emotions of the Egyptian fans in the immediate aftermath of the painful defeat.
“I can understand their emotions; it’s a big World Cup knockout match for them, it's a historic occasion for them. As a football fan, I know how it feels to lose a match when you were so close to winning it,” he said.
“But when it comes to the team which lost the match from such a strong position, they have to blame somebody. And the easiest thing to do is blame the referee. They (the coaching staff) can cover up their shortcomings by blaming the referee.”
Wrong move
Ferrari pointed to a tactical mistake from the Egyptian coaching staff after Lionel Messi made it 2-2 in the 83rd minute.
“I was happy when Egypt made the mistake of going for the third goal after the scoreline was 2-2. There were only a few minutes left in the game, and the Argentina players were tired. The Egyptians could have played more sensible football to take the game to extra time,” he said.
“That would have put Argentina under pressure because our players would have struggled if Egypt had taken them to the extra time (additional 30 minutes after the end of 90 minutes).
"But they (Egypt) wanted to score the third goal and ended up conceding the third goal. I thought that was a tactical mistake from their coach.”
Unlike Ferrari, Zakaria is not a true-blue football fan, but Egypt’s dream run to the round of 16 was the greatest thing she has ever experienced in life.
“Of course, I am heartbroken now that they have lost. But as Egyptians, what we experienced was something far bigger than football,” she said.
“Look, nobody expected Egypt to come this far at the World Cup, because we have never done this before — we are used to seeing our team go out of the group stage.
“So when the Egyptians played this way, for every single Egyptian and Arab, this was victory. For every Arab it meant we can dream, be consistent, and overcome any challenges ahead of us.
"Yes, our people are very sad now, but they are very proud of this team. Though they left the tournament, they made history and inspired an entire generation. They gave us so much hope and joy at a difficult time for our region, including the wars we witnessed in Gaza and Lebanon. They made us live the most beautiful moment of our lives."
It's incredible how football, especially at the World Cup, can bring out the deepest human emotions.
But the debate about referees and the role of video technology will continue to be a fascinating subject for neutrals in football — unless your team is at the receiving end of such decisions.
When a controversial goal from Japan in a group-stage match against Spain knocked Germany out of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, I moved from one corner of Doha to another, trying to speak to fans about how refereeing decisions can turn a football game into a bitter feud between countries.
"It's a game played by 22 people. So these things can happen,” Ivan, a Serbian fan, said before offering me a very philosophical perspective.
“Football is Maradona's handball," he said. "That's what makes this game so beautiful.”
Rituraj Borkakoty is Sports Editor and has spent more than two decades writing on his sporting heroes. He also loves an underdog story, so if you have one, share it with him. He would love to bring it to life.