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A furious Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan accused FIFA of safeguarding their own "interests" by seeking to keep Lionel Messi alive in the 2026 World Cup, claiming his team was dealt an "injustice" in a contentious 3–2 loss to Argentina that ended Egypt's run at the round of 16.
Egypt pushed defending champions Argentina to the very brink, but three consecutive goals in the closing 15 minutes allowed La Albiceleste to advance to the quarterfinals — though not without significant controversy.
Egypt had a goal controversially ruled out before eventually building a two-goal advantage. Hassan also contends that Enzo Fernández's match-winning strike should not have stood, as Mohamed Salah should have been awarded a penalty in the build-up. After the final whistle, Hassan held nothing back and made his frustrations abundantly clear.
This is what champions do. pic.twitter.com/Tnp9qJAfgR
"It's all about money," Hassan said. "They want Messi to remain in the competition. In football, many things happen behind the scenes because of vested interests. What occurred was unjust. Egypt deserved to go through. We were the superior side."
"Why is there no fairness in sport," he went on. "I don't want to sugarcoat this with polished words. We were treated unjustly today. We have been wronged. This is my way of speaking out and taking a stand. I will not watch another game in this tournament."
"There appears to be pressure from the Argentina camp influencing this result. In football, there are sometimes outside forces that go beyond what happens on the pitch. The world champions received backing at every level."
Why Egypt's Goal vs. Argentina Was Disallowed
In the 58th minute, Egypt's Haissem Hassan burst down the right flank, weaving past Argentina defenders as he surged forward before laying the ball off to Salah in space. The Liverpool icon then threaded a perfectly weighted pass for Mostafa Ziko, who came charging into the box from the opposite wing and drilled a shot past Emiliano Martínez to double Egypt's lead.
It was a breathtaking goal — until it wasn't.
VAR ruled that before Hassan embarked on his brilliant run, Marwan Ateya had stepped on Lisandro Martínez, dispossessing him just as he was about to enter Egypt's penalty area. VAR can overturn a goal if a foul occurs and directly triggers the start of the attacking possession phase (APP) that culminates in a goal.
Despite the foul occurring at the opposite end of the field, it initiated the sequence of play that led to Ziko's finish. The fact that several Argentina players had clear opportunities to halt the move before it ended in a goal is what appears to have left Egyptians incensed with referee François Letexier, whom Hassan and Egypt had formally objected to officiating the match.
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Egypt Players Slam Refereeing Decisions After Argentina Defeat
Hassan was far from the only one to harshly criticize the officiating calls that favored Argentina throughout the contest.
Ziko did ultimately double Egypt's lead, yet Argentina still managed to overturn the deficit. After the game, he too felt Egypt had been treated unjustly, contributing to their exit from the tournament.
"No fair, no fair. The referee was not fair," Ziko lamented after the match, via BBC. "The injustice was plain to see. We performed well in the opening stages. There's been unfairness right from the beginning. A 2–0 lead isn't enough to beat Argentina — it's clear this tournament has been fixed."
Reserve goalkeeper Mohammed Alaa voiced the same sentiment in his own post-match statement.
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"The refereeing was obvious for everyone to see," Alaa said. "I won't go into it. The officiating was evident. We had a goal disallowed and a penalty not given. That penalty situation then turned into a counter-attack goal for Argentina's third. Our objections were directed solely at the referee — meaning the refereeing errors. That's all we were protesting, nothing more."
The most memorable World Cup campaign in Egypt's history came to a painful and disputed conclusion. Defending champions Argentina, meanwhile, will now take on Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Saturday.