Note: This story first appeared in The Beautiful Game by CNN Sports, our daily newsletter on all things World Cup. To subscribe, click here.

After 27 days of non-stop World Cup action, it’s time to take a break. There will be no games played today, with teams enjoying a little rest before the quarterfinals kick off from Thursday.

In truth, given what we saw yesterday, I think everyone could do with a little breather. Some of my CNN Sports colleagues were at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to watch Argentina pull off one of the most remarkable comebacks in soccer history and supervising editor Kyle Feldscher described it as some sort of divine intervention. It didn’t feel far off in sporting terms.

But while most of the world was reveling in yet another Lionel Messi-inspired miracle, those supporting Egypt were left heartbroken and, more pertinently, furious.

We’ll start today’s newsletter there.

The Main Thing: Rage of the Pharaohs

Given the news swirling around FIFA and Trump’s red card intervention, the last thing the governing body needed was accusations of favoritism and some sort of match fixing.

And yet, after Egypt threw away its 2-0 lead against Argentina in the last 16 yesterday, that’s exactly where many of its players and coaches directed their focus.

“Unfair” is how Egypt’s coach Hossam Hassan labeled it. So, let’s break down why he and many others were so upset.

The match had started so well for the Egyptians who went 1-0 up in the 15th minute. They then thought they had doubled their lead just before the hour mark… but that’s where the controversy started.

After celebrating the breakaway goal, Egypt’s players quickly got that gut-wrenching, sinking feeling that comes with a VAR review. While the team had been reveling in its temporary 2-0 lead, the referee team had been dissecting what happened moments before the ball hit the back of the net.

Eventually, to the frustration and bewilderment of many, the referee ruled the goal out because the video assistant referee (VAR) had identified a foul on Lisandro Martínez, which had resulted in Egypt regaining the ball for the goal. Most would agree it probably was, just about, a foul, but it didn’t feel like an incident that VAR should get involved with.

And yet, despite that setback, Egypt eventually scored a second through Mostafa Ziko to leave Argentina on the brink of elimination. But the defending champion scored three times in the space of 13 minutes at the end of the match, the winner coming in the third minute of stoppage time. Cue elation for the Albiceleste and total fury for their opponent.

The Egyptian bench was incandescent with rage, claiming they should have been awarded a penalty in the buildup to Enzo Fernández’s winning goal. Less than 20 seconds before the ball hit the back of the net, Mohamed Salah had gone down in the Argentina box. Replays showed Julián Álvarez nick the ball off the winger before Salah went down under contact with the Argentine. Regardless, VAR did not ask the referee to review it and that angered the Egyptians.

To make matters worse, the bench was already claiming another penalty after Alexis Mac Allister looked to have slightly pulled Hamdy Fathy down moments before.

“We have been treated unfairly today,” Hassan told reporters after a match that ended in a flurry of cards for the Egyptian players and coaching staff who confronted the referee. “We have suffered injustice.”

“There has not been respect or fair play because a penalty was ruled out,” Hassan added. “A second ball that should have been called as a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR.”

Hassan was livid on the touchline and was seen making a cross gesture with his arms during all the commotion, a symbol introduced by FIFA for managers to alert the referees of a racist incident. Egypt’s head coach, though, didn’t mention it during his post-match media duties and instead vowed to stop watching the tournament altogether.

“I promise you, from the moment I go back, I’m not going to continue following the matches of this FIFA World Cup,” he said. “This is my internal fight, my internal objection, my own way of speaking up and standing up.”

According to BBC Sport, Egypt’s soccer federation has called on FIFA to launch an investigation into the match referee and urged the governing body to kick the officiating team out of the tournament.

In truth, Egypt can feel disappointed that key decisions went against them during the match but calling the tournament a “fix” – as Egypt’s Ziko did – or arguing they lost because FIFA wanted Argentina to progress seems like a bit of a stretch.

Egypt was still 2-0 up with less than 15 minutes remaining. It was them who fell apart under pressure. Match referee François Letexier didn’t score the goals against them, Argentina did.

So while rightly frustrated by that disallowed goal, the Pharaohs had every opportunity to win the match. It’s no wonder they were so angry that they didn’t.

“What he’s doing is incredible, and we just try to help him, support him and enjoy every moment alongside him.”

Julián Álvarez, Argentina forward, on Lionel Messi

The words of Julián Álvarez about his teammate and friend Lionel Messi. Despite all the drama around the end of the match, you can’t forget how incredible it is for Messi to still be playing a big part in these matches at the age of 39. It’s just insane that he’s leading this edition’s goalscoring leaderboard with eight already.

He will look to add to his tally as Argentina faces Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Sunday.