Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan has accused FIFA and match officials of favouring defending champions Argentina following his side’s dramatic 3-2 defeat in the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup.
The Pharaohs surrendered a two-goal advantage on Tuesday as Argentina mounted a stunning comeback, with Lionel Messi scoring the equaliser after creating an earlier goal before Enzo Fernández struck a stoppage-time winner to send the reigning champions into the quarter-finals.
Egypt’s frustration was compounded after a second-half goal was ruled out following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review, while match officials declined to review an incident in which the Egyptians believed Mohamed Salah had been fouled by Alexis Mac Allister in the build-up to Argentina’s winning goal.
Speaking after the match, Hassan alleged that factors beyond football influenced the outcome.
“We looked better than the reigning champions—better in everything—but the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it.
“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running. In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champion received support at every level,” he said.
The Egyptian coach also questioned FIFA’s decision to appoint French referee François Letexier to officiate the match, claiming his team had raised concerns before kick-off.
“There seems to be pressure from the Argentine side on this outcome. We were objecting to the selection of the referee because of the French situation, but everybody has to suffer at some point, and we suffered,” he stated.
Hassan further criticised the officiating, insisting Egypt were denied a clear penalty and unfairly had a legitimate goal disallowed.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out. It was not even checked by the VAR, and our second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.
“I want to put it in beautiful words and say, ‘Hard luck,’ but we have been treated unfairly, and it has been an injustice,” he added.
The coach revealed that he confronted referee Letexier immediately after the final whistle over what he described as questionable decisions.
“What I told the referee was, ‘This is unfair.’ I said maybe he is carrying a scar or has something to hide. If somebody is trying to hide something, they often fail to hide it,” Hassan said.
Egypt forward Mostafa Zico also questioned the officiating, saying the decisions changed the course of the match after his side had established a commanding lead.
“Hard luck. The match was in our hands and slipped away at the last moment. Strange things happened on the pitch.
“We were hard done by today, and everyone saw that. We were winning 2-0. After the 2-0 result, everything went against us. I don’t even know why the second goal was disallowed, but we must look for a solution,” he said.
Despite the controversy, Argentina advanced to the quarter-finals, while Egypt’s World Cup campaign came to an end amid allegations of unfair officiating and calls for greater transparency in the use of VAR.