Former Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has rejected claims that Argentina benefited from biased officiating in their dramatic 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 victory over Egypt, insisting the South Americans deserved to progress. Reacting to the controversy in a post shared by *La Derecha Diario* on X on Wednesday,……
Former Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has rejected claims that Argentina benefited from biased officiating in their dramatic 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 victory over Egypt, insisting the South Americans deserved to progress.
Reacting to the controversy in a post shared by *La Derecha Diario* on X on Wednesday, Kroos dismissed allegations that Argentina “robbed” Egypt, arguing that the outcome was decided by performances over 90 minutes rather than a single refereeing decision.
“I don’t understand why people always look for excuses after a result like this,” Kroos said.
“Football is decided in 90 minutes, not by a single moment. Egypt played an excellent first half, but, after going 2–0 up, they lost control of the game and Argentina capitalized. That’s what elite teams do.”
The former Real Madrid star said too much attention had been placed on the referee and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), instead of Argentina’s response after falling behind.
“People keep talking about the referee and VAR, but, if you look at the match objectively, Argentina’s comeback was built on their intensity, quality, and mentality. They believed until the final whistle, while Egypt couldn’t maintain the same level they showed at the start,” he added.
Kroos argued that surrendering a two-goal advantage against one of the world’s top teams could not be blamed on a single officiating decision.
“You can’t throw away a two-goal lead against one of the best teams in the world and then boil it all down to a single decision. Football is much more complex than that.”
The 2014 World Cup winner also criticised conspiracy theories suggesting Argentina were being favoured at the tournament.
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“There will always be debates about refereeing, and that’s normal. But saying that the match was ‘stolen’ or that the tournament is being gifted to Argentina is unfair to all the players on the field. Players decide matches with their performances, not with conspiracy theories.”
Kroos concluded by urging Egypt to take pride in their display while learning from the mistakes that proved costly.
“The hard part, after a defeat, is accepting that the opponent was better in the decisive moments. Argentina deserves credit for the way they responded under pressure, and Egypt should be proud of their performance while also learning from the mistakes that cost them dearly. That’s football.”
Argentina came from two goals down to beat Egypt 3-2, with late strikes from Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernández securing a place in the quarter-finals. The match has since sparked intense debate after the Egyptian Football Association lodged a formal complaint with FIFA over what it described as “discriminatory” officiating.
