Overview
- FIFA's head of refereeing, Pierluigi Collina, publicly defended referee François Letexier and the VAR team for decisions in Argentina's 3-2 Round of 16 victory over Egypt.
- Collina said VAR replay showed Marwan Attia stepped on Lisandro Martínez, a foul the VAR judged to have influenced play and that led to Egypt's second goal being disallowed.
- He explained that the winning sequence was reviewed and ruled lawful because Julián Álvarez touched the ball first and subsequent contact with Mohamed Salah was judged normal play.
- The federation reiterated VAR protocol that every goal prompts a review of the attacking phase and that there is no fixed time or distance limit for examining incidents that may affect a goal.
- Collina called the Egyptian delegation's post-match accusations unfounded and warned that such claims can provoke threats to match officials and their families, leaving the match result and refereeing decisions in place.