Egypt striker Mostafa Zico accused the referee of favouring Argentina after his side squandered a two-goal lead in a dramatic 3-2 defeat in the World Cup Round of 16 in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Zico, who scored Egypt's second goal after seeing an earlier effort ruled out by VAR for a foul in the build-up, claimed the officiating was biased throughout the match.

"The referee wasn't good, he was unfair. His injustice was clear. He persecuted us from the start of the match. He doesn't want us to win. It was a rigged game," Zico was quoted as saying by Brazilian outlet Globo after the match.

"I really wanted to bring joy to them [the fans], but I apologize. It didn't happen. It wasn't our fault. That referee… It seems like this match was rigged. We were winning 2-0, and he kept coming at us. Congratulations to Argentina on another World Cup, it seems," he added.

Zico thought he had scored twice in the second half, but his first goal was ruled out after VAR detected a foul earlier in the move.

He eventually doubled Egypt's lead after Hassan found him unmarked inside the penalty area. Argentina, however, struck three times late to complete a remarkable comeback and advance to the quarterfinals.

"At no point did we think the match was already decided. We knew we were facing the reigning world champions. Even before the game started, we knew we would be facing a very strong team and one of the favorites for the title.

"But, if they had won solely on their own merits, it would have been very different for us," Zico said.

The striker was substituted in the 80th minute, moments after Argentina had reduced the deficit to 2-1. Egypt conceded the equaliser three minutes later before Enzo Fernandez scored the winner in stoppage time.