Mohamed Salah declined to directly criticise the referee after Egypt's heartbreaking 3-2 defeat to Argentina, but suggested that the controversial decisions spoke for themselves.

While his teammate Mostafa Zico directly accused French referee François Letexier of bias and said the match was ‘rigged’ for Argentina, Salah adopted a more restrained approach following the Round of 16 defeat in Atlanta.

“First of all, it was Allah's will. That was the destiny of the match and the result. We had an excellent first half and were also good for a good part of the second,” Salah was quoted as saying after the match by Brazilian outlet Globo.

“We made some small mistakes and, as for the refereeing, I prefer not to comment. Everyone saw what happened. I don't have much more to add,” he said.

Although Salah avoided directly accusing the officials of bias, he highlighted two moments Egypt believed changed the course of the match.

“We had a goal disallowed and also a penalty in our favor that wasn't given. Then, they went on a counter-attack and scored.

“The coach congratulated us on our performance. He wanted us to go even further in the competition, but it was Allah's will. We will build on what we achieved in this campaign and, God willing, the future will be even better.”

Egypt had led 2-0 before Argentina mounted a dramatic late comeback to reach the quarterfinals.

The 34-year-old, who scored once and provided two assists during Egypt's best-ever World Cup campaign, said his side had been prepared for the challenge of facing the defending champions.

“We were facing the world champions, and we knew it would be a very difficult game. We prepared very well for this opponent, and that was clear from the start of the match. In the end, this was the destiny that Allah had in store for us.”