Argentina vs. Egypt referee row: The World Cup's discipline gap laid bare

Egypt were cruising to a spectacular upset before Argentina conjured three goals in 13 minutes, and now a quarter-final with Switzerland awaits the South Americans.

But the story of that comeback isn't really about the football or Lionel Messi supplanting his compatriot Diego Maradona for the most assists in World Cup history.

By far the biggest talking points, and the controversy that has the world of football up in arms, are the penalty shouts that went unanswered and the disallowed Egyptian goal.

Argentina vs. Egypt: Raw reaction to the controversial moments

Long after the World Cup is over, fans and analysts will continue to debate Julian Alvarez's challenge on Mohamed Salah before the counter-attack that led to Enzo Fernandez's winner.

Zico's disallowed goal and Alexis Mac Allister's tug on Hamdi Fathy will also follow Argentina's journey into the quarter-finals and beyond, regardless of their success in what remains of the tournament.

Egypt boss Hossam Hassan led the protests, telling reporters, "A penalty was ruled out, it was not even checked by the VAR, and our second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.

"We have all seen the shirt pulled back and not even a VAR check. There seems to have been pressure on the Argentine side on the referee that has brought about this outcome."

Hassan's strong words were backed up by Zico, pictured in tears after the game, and even England great Alan Shearer joined the chorus.

Argentina vs. Egypt: A discipline imbalance?

Strip away the opinions, and the raw numbers from the ill-tempered match make for interesting, albeit inconclusive reading.

The Argentinians committed 13 fouls and didn't have a single player booked, while Egypt committed 11 fouls and picked up four yellows, including the one given to Hassan.

Of course, this is a very narrow lens through which to examine allegations of unfair refereeing decisions, and it doesn't answer the core dispute at the centre of the drama: that fouls should have been called when they weren't.

However, it raises the question of whether the card-per-foul ratio is at least somewhat consistent when the sample size, still relatively small, is expanded to every team and every World Cup game.

World Cup: Fouls per card - The top and bottom 10

While Argentina have committed only one fewer foul than Egypt, the Pharaohs have picked up nine more cards than the South Americans.

That point comes with caveats, none more important than the fact that two fouls which look identical on paper can be worlds apart in reality, and only the more reckless ones tend to warrant a card.

And then there's the reality that some referees tend to issue more cards than others, with the gap in bookings between the most lenient and the strictest surprisingly large.

But even allowing for those points, the disparity in fouls per card between the teams at the top and bottom of this table is stark.

Bold = qualified for the quarter-finals.

Stats provided by Opta Analyst

Is there an explanation for the massive swing between the teams at the top and those at the bottom?

Is it purely coincidental that seven of the eight teams that have progressed to the quarter-final stage rank in the top 17?

And crucially, does this show, even beyond the now-infamous Argentina vs. Egypt game, that the broader arguments from the Pharaohs' camp may be somewhat justified?

Those questions will probably never be answered conclusively, and without considering how each referee varies in their tendency to issue cards, this information is only so useful, but it's enough to lend some credibility to the complaints raised by Hassan, Zico and Shearer.

Thursday's quarter-final between France and Morocco, overseen entirely by Argentine officials, couldn't have arrived at a more awkward time.