Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi expressed his pride and appreciation for the national football team following their exit from the Round of 16 in the 2026 World Cup. This came after the team's 3-2 loss to Argentina, with the President praising the players' honorable performance and emphasizing that this achievement is unprecedented in the history of Egyptian football, while promising that the future will be better for them. On another note, the match witnessed widespread refereeing controversy; player Zico stated that the referee was unfair and squandered the Egyptian people's dream, while a refereeing expert confirmed the validity of Zico's goal and criticized the referee's catastrophic errors. Additionally, Mostafa Shaker pointed to the incident where Messi tore Hamdi Fathi's jersey, while Hossam Hassan defended the players despite the feeling of injustice against Argentina.