Egypt were ‘cheated’ in controversial World Cup exit to Argentina, says coach
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Egypt's head coach Hossam Hassan complaining to French referee Francois Letexier during the 3-2 World Cup last-16 loss to holders Argentina on July 7, 2026.
PHOTO: AFP
ATLANTA – Hossam Hassan claimed his Egypt side had been “cheated” out of a place in the World Cup quarter-finals after Argentina staged a stunning late comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 on July 7.
“I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice,” Hassan said in an explosive press conference.
“I will say what’s on my mind regardless of the consequence. This was clearly a rigged match and the whole world saw it...
“If they want Argentina to win so badly, why call everyone to come and participate?”
The Pharaohs were leading 1-0 thanks to Yasser Ibrahim’s early opener. Then they had a Mostafa Ziko goal ruled out when the video assistant referee (VAR) intervened to spot a foul on Lisandro Martinez much earlier in the move.
In the second half, Ziko doubled their lead to put Egypt on the brink of a place in the last eight for the first time.
However, the defending champions hit back as Cristian Romero reduced the arrears before Lionel Messi, who saw a first-half penalty saved, smashed in the equaliser with his eighth goal of the tournament.
The controversy did not end there, though, as Egypt believed that in the build-up to Argentina’s winner scored by Enzo Fernandez, they should have instead been awarded a penalty for Hamdy Fathy being pulled by Alexis Mac Allister.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play,” Hassan, 59, said.
“A penalty was ruled out, was not even checked by VAR. A second goal was remarkably disallowed. There has not even been a VAR check when we have all seen the image of the (shirt) being pulled back.”
“It’s all about money. They want Messi to stay in the tournament,” he added. “In football, many things happen off the pitch because of interests. What happened was unfair. Egypt deserved to qualify. We were the better team.”
An emotional Ziko added: “I don’t know what happened in the second half. Strange things happened that everyone saw. It was as clear as the sun in broad daylight.
“The referee has robbed a whole nation of its efforts. Congratulations, Argentina, on winning the World Cup.”
Hassan said he would not watch any more matches of the tournament, such was the injustice he felt, adding: “I am not going to continue following the matches of this World Cup, watching the matches of this World Cup. This is my own way of speaking up.”
The Egyptian football federation said on July 7 that it had asked for the officiating team who handled the match to be punished.
“Hany Aburida, president of the Egyptian Football Federation, filed a complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into the French referee Francois Letexier... after the serious refereeing mistakes committed by the team of referees and double standards, which caused the Egypt team to lose the match and leave the World Cup,” said a statement from the federation.
“Aburida demanded the investigation of the entire team of referees, including the video technology referees, because of the blatant errors and insisting on not reviewing some of the footage that we believe are in favour of the Egyptian national team, and we see in it the Pharaohs’ right to a correct goal and a penalty,” said the Egyptian statement.
It added that the president had also “demanded the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes and proving the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team”.
French football great Thierry Henry tried to contextualise the issue, saying on Fox Sports: “The real issue is consistency. When Egypt scored, VAR carried out a detailed review before the goal was eventually ruled out. Whether you agree with that decision or not, the process was thorough.
“The problem is that later in the match, Egypt had penalty appeals that many people expected to receive the same level of scrutiny. Instead, those moments appeared to be resolved much more quickly and that’s where supporters begin asking questions.” AFP
