Are Argentina being treated favourably at World Cup?

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After being expected to steamroller past Cape Verde and Egypt in the first two knockout rounds, La Albiceleste had to fight tooth and nail for 3-2 victories. But the win over Egypt came with an edge as the African nation asked Fifa to kick the officials in charge of their last-16 defeat out of the tournament. Egypt have alleged bias in favour of Argentina and favouritism towards their star player, Lionel Messi. After the game, coach Hossam Hassan said Egypt had been "treated unfairly" and "suffered injustice". "Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running," he said. BBC Sport examines whether there is anything in the conspiracy theory that everything is being set up for Argentina to succeed. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan was booked for protesting after Argentina's winner It is easy to understand why Egypt would feel so frustrated after Tuesday's 3-2 defeat. The Africans had led 2-0 with 11 minutes to play, on the brink of a historic first-ever quarter-final appearance. But it all went wrong as Argentina stormed back to turn the game on its head and score the winner in stoppage time. Egypt say there was something more suspect at play. They put their exit down to "serious refereeing mistakes" and "double standards" from French referee Francois Letexier and his team. The Pharaohs had a goal ruled out through a video assistant referee (VAR) intervention. They also claim Argentina's winner should have been disallowed, and a penalty awarded to them instead. Mostafa Zico's brilliant goal was chalked off after Marwan Attia was penalised for stepping on the foot of Lisandro Martinez at the start of the move. It was controversial, but they were leading 1-0 and did score a second goal nine minutes later. You cannot prove the game would have taken a different path had Zico's goal stood. Egypt believed there were two potential penalty claims in their favour before Enzo Fernandez headed home the clinching goal. Hamdi Fathy went to ground claiming he was held by Alexis Mac Allister, which was unclear on replays, while Mohamed Salah felt he was tripped by Julian Alvarez. There were some similarities between the Martinez and Salah situations, with foot-on-foot contact, but not enough to constitute a penalty. Egypt stood a better chance of getting the goal chalked off if Salah had been outside the area. The VAR would merely be judging a foul - as was the case with Martinez - rather than a penalty. Controversial? Absolutely. But it is hardly proof of a conspiracy in favour of Messi. Published3 hours agoA striker duel for the ages & Qatar revenge - what to expect in quarter-finals Published6 hours agoHas the World Cup signalled the end of chaos at corners? Published4 hours agoFrance to face a complete team of Argentine officialsTake a look at the appointments for Thursday's quarter-final between France and Morocco. For the first time at this World Cup the whole on-field officiating team - referee, both assistants, fourth official and the reserve - are from the same country. In Facundo Tello's other two appointments, the fourth official and reserve were first from Saudi Arabia, and then Colombia. The argument is that Argentina would want France to be knocked out. After all, they are the tournament favourites. This is one of the biggest games of Tello's career, his second World Cup quarter-final in successive tournaments. Such a high-profile referee is not going to act without the utmost integrity. But perception is often just as important, and appointing Argentine officials against France in the quarter-finals is not a great look. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Lionel Messi escaped a VAR review for the kind of challenge that saw Folarin Balogun dismissed Cast your minds back at the start of the tournament and a potential red card for Messi. Messi did not even receive a booking for his challenge on Algeria captain Aissa Mandi. Then, last week, occurred one of the most high-profile incidents of this World Cup. Folarin Balogun was sent off on VAR review against Bosnia in similar circumstances. Both made contact on the opponent's upper calf.

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Original Source: BBC Sport