Note: This story first appeared in The Beautiful Game by CNN Sports, our daily newsletter on all things World Cup. To subscribe, click here.
After 27 days of non-stop World Cup action, it’s time to take a break. There will be no games played today, with teams enjoying a little rest before the quarterfinals kick off from Thursday.
In truth, given what we saw yesterday, I think everyone could do with a little breather. Some of my CNN Sports colleagues were at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to watch Argentina pull off one of the most remarkable comebacks in soccer history and supervising editor Kyle Feldscher described it as some sort of divine intervention. It didn’t feel far off in sporting terms.
But while most of the world was reveling in yet another Lionel Messi-inspired miracle, those supporting Egypt were left heartbroken and, more pertinently, furious.
We’ll start today’s newsletter there.
The Main Thing: Rage of the Pharaohs
Given the news swirling around FIFA and Trump’s red card intervention, the last thing the governing body needed was accusations of favoritism and some sort of match fixing.
And yet, after Egypt threw away its 2-0 lead against Argentina in the last 16 yesterday, that’s exactly where many of its players and coaches directed their focus.
“Unfair” is how Egypt’s coach Hossam Hassan labeled it. So, let’s break down why he and many others were so upset.
The match had started so well for the Egyptians who went 1-0 up in the 15th minute. They then thought they had doubled their lead just before the hour mark… but that’s where the controversy started.
After celebrating the breakaway goal, Egypt’s players quickly got that gut-wrenching, sinking feeling that comes with a VAR review. While the team had been reveling in its temporary 2-0 lead, the referee team had been dissecting what happened moments before the ball hit the back of the net.
Eventually, to the frustration and bewilderment of many, the referee ruled the goal out because the video assistant referee (VAR) had identified a foul on Lisandro Martínez, which had resulted in Egypt regaining the ball for the goal. Most would agree it probably was, just about, a foul, but it didn’t feel like an incident that VAR should get involved with.
And yet, despite that setback, Egypt eventually scored a second through Mostafa Ziko to leave Argentina on the brink of elimination. But the defending champion scored three times in the space of 13 minutes at the end of the match, the winner coming in the third minute of stoppage time. Cue elation for the Albiceleste and total fury for their opponent.
The Egyptian bench was incandescent with rage, claiming they should have been awarded a penalty in the buildup to Enzo Fernández’s winning goal. Less than 20 seconds before the ball hit the back of the net, Mohamed Salah had gone down in the Argentina box. Replays showed Julián Álvarez nick the ball off the winger before Salah went down under contact with the Argentine. Regardless, VAR did not ask the referee to review it and that angered the Egyptians.
To make matters worse, the bench was already claiming another penalty after Alexis Mac Allister looked to have slightly pulled Hamdy Fathy down moments before.
“We have been treated unfairly today,” Hassan told reporters after a match that ended in a flurry of cards for the Egyptian players and coaching staff who confronted the referee. “We have suffered injustice.”
“There has not been respect or fair play because a penalty was ruled out,” Hassan added. “A second ball that should have been called as a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR.”
Hassan was livid on the touchline and was seen making a cross gesture with his arms during all the commotion, a symbol introduced by FIFA for managers to alert the referees of a racist incident. Egypt’s head coach, though, didn’t mention it during his post-match media duties and instead vowed to stop watching the tournament altogether.
“I promise you, from the moment I go back, I’m not going to continue following the matches of this FIFA World Cup,” he said. “This is my internal fight, my internal objection, my own way of speaking up and standing up.”
According to BBC Sport, Egypt’s soccer federation has called on FIFA to launch an investigation into the match referee and urged the governing body to kick the officiating team out of the tournament.
In truth, Egypt can feel disappointed that key decisions went against them during the match but calling the tournament a “fix” – as Egypt’s Ziko did – or arguing they lost because FIFA wanted Argentina to progress seems like a bit of a stretch.
Egypt was still 2-0 up with less than 15 minutes remaining. It was them who fell apart under pressure. Match referee François Letexier didn’t score the goals against them, Argentina did.
So while rightly frustrated by that disallowed goal, the Pharaohs had every opportunity to win the match. It’s no wonder they were so angry that they didn’t.
Quote of the Day
The words of Julián Álvarez about his teammate and friend Lionel Messi. Despite all the drama around the end of the match, you can’t forget how incredible it is for Messi to still be playing a big part in these matches at the age of 39. It’s just insane that he’s leading this edition’s goalscoring leaderboard with eight already.
He will look to add to his tally as Argentina faces Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Sunday.
WATCH: ‘If we don’t suffer, we don’t win’ – Fans react to that Argentina comeback
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<span class=”byline__authors vossi-byline_elevate__authors byline__authors–hide-all-images vossi-byline_elevate__authors–hide-all-images”>By <span class=”byline__author vossi-byline_elevate__author”><span class=”byline__name vossi-byline_elevate__name”>Steven Kern</span></span></span>
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<time datetime=”2026-07-08T15:00:25.980Z”>Updated Jul 8, 2026, 11:00 AM ET</time>
<time datetime=”2026-07-08T15:00:25.980Z”>Published Jul 8, 2026, 11:00 AM ET</time>
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<div class=”timestamp__published vossi-timestamp_elevate__published”>PUBLISHED <time datetime=”2026-07-08T15:00:25.980Z”>Jul 8, 2026, 11:00 AM ET</time></div>
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Argentina fans in Atlanta react to a breathtaking Round of 16 World Cup victory over Egypt, which saw the Albiceleste trail for most of the match before storming back in the final 13 minutes.
Argentina fans in Atlanta react to a breathtaking Round of 16 World Cup victory over Egypt, which saw the Albiceleste trail for most of the match before storming back in the final 13 minutes.
‘We are talking about two of the best’
From CNN’s Glen Levy
Heading into the Argentina versus Egypt Round of 16 match on Tuesday, with a place in the World Cup quarterfinals on the line, the obvious storyline surrounded the main men all had come to see in Atlanta: Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah. Of course, only one could advance, and with these icons entering the twilight of their careers — Messi just turned 39 and Salah is 34 — the other narrative was that this showdown represented, in Michael Jordan terms, “The Last Dance.”
Calling the game for British broadcaster ITV was Scottish striking great Ally McCoist, paired with Jon Champion, usually synonymous with soundtracking the English Premier League. And the beloved duo was gracious enough to speak to The Beautiful Game.
“The number of times I’ve been lifted out of my seat at Anfield, or Liverpool playing away from home, by a wonderful Salah moment is tremendous and I’ll treasure that forever,” starts Champion, “but Messi is just something phenomenally different to anybody else.”
“Both of them have been absolutely outstanding,” says McCoist. “We are talking about two of the best, particularly Messi, arguably one of the greatest football players of all time… but for me, certainly of this generation, Messi would be the best.”
In front of their very eyes, along with a “full house” of 68,239 spectators, Messi inspired that Argentina comeback, which resulted in a Player of the Match award. And Champion’s parting words to us about Messi ahead of kickoff proved prescient. When pressed about stars on the wane, he noted that: “In Messi, we’re seeing one that’s still dazzling.”
LISTEN: Why FIFA (or Trump) can’t spoil the World Cup party
President Donald Trump’s request for FIFA to review a controversial red card against US striker Folarin Bologun raised questions about fairness and preferential treatment at the World Cup.
But experts say soccer’s global governing body has long been open to possible political influence and corruption.
On today’s episode of “CNN One Thing,” David Rind speaks with Simon Kuper, Financial Times soccer reporter (and 10-time World Cup attendee) about the global popularity of soccer, despite the Beautiful Game’s scandal-plagued governing body.
Click here to listen to the podcast.
World Cup in numbers: 2
As good as Messi is, it’s kind of perfect that arguably the best player of all time is also quite bad at taking penalties.
The Argentine great missed another against Egypt which brought up another record. Messi has now missed half of his eight penalty attempts at World Cups and became the first player to miss two in the same tournament (excluding those taken in a penalty shootout).
You can’t be the best at everything, Leo.
The Final Whistle: Cristiano Ronaldo’s last World Cup falls flat
Amid all the drama over the last two days, it’s easy to forget that we saw Cristiano Ronaldo’s last game at a World Cup.
CNN producer Duarte Mendonça is a huge Portugal fan and had this to say about the whole saga involving the main man.
Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t just one of the best to ever do it – he’s also our country’s biggest ever icon, making the small nation of just over 11 million people known worldwide.
With Portugal, he became the captain, the Seleção’s all-time best player and the ultimate symbol for our team, leading the country to international success for the first time in major international competitions, after winning Euro 2016 and two Nations League titles (2019 and 2025).
But the fact is that Father Time has now caught up with him and everyone seemed too afraid to tell him before this World Cup.
At a time when Portugal has one of the best squads (on paper) in the world, it felt like Ronaldo’s own quest to break the 1,000-goal mark and be the main man got in the way of the team’s overall success.
As a player who can no longer run like he used to – with no explosive acceleration (he’s the only player with over 500 minutes played at the 2022 and 2026 World Cups without dribbling past an opponent, according to Opta Stats) – and who at times seems a bit clumsy and easy to defend inside the box, our game became very predictable and our best talent became restricted. Those were reasons why so many argued that Gonçalo Ramos should be given a starting spot, or at least more minutes throughout the competition.
Throughout the tournament, Ronaldo had 17 shots and created zero chances for teammates – the most shots by a player without registering a single chance created at a World Cup in 60 years, according to Opta Stats.
I, for one, put bigger responsibility on Portugal manager Roberto Martínez for making some questionable decisions, including playing Ronaldo nearly every game for 90 minutes, when clearly he was underperforming.
But let me remind you, despite it all, I still think Ronaldo is one of the best players I have ever seen, and I consider myself lucky – as a soccer fan – to have seen him play time and time again.
But I can’t help feeling a bit sad that his last dance turned out to be this flat.
