Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan has accused FIFA and match officials of favouring Lionel Messi and defending champions Argentina following his side’s dramatic 3-2 defeat in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Speaking after the match, Hassan suggested that controversial officiating decisions contributed to Egypt’s elimination and questioned whether there was a desire to keep Messi and Argentina in the tournament.
“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running,” Hassan told reporters.
Despite taking a two-goal lead, Egypt were unable to hold off Argentina’s comeback, with Messi scoring once and creating another before Enzo Fernández netted the decisive goal in stoppage time.
VAR Decisions Spark Controversy
Much of Egypt’s frustration centred on two key incidents during the match.
The first came when Egypt had a second-half goal ruled out following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review.
Later in the game, Egyptian players appealed for a foul on Mohamed Salah by Alexis Mac Allister in the build-up to Argentina’s winning goal.
The referee allowed play to continue, and the incident was not reviewed by VAR before Argentina launched the attack that ended with Fernández scoring the winner.
Egypt’s coaching staff argued that the challenge on Salah deserved at least a review, especially after their own goal had been disallowed following video intervention.
‘We Were Treated Unfairly’
Hassan said he believed the officiating decisions affected the outcome of the match.
“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.”
He continued:
“The world champion received support at every level.”
The Egypt coach also criticised the appointment of French referee François Letexier, saying his team had expressed concerns before the match.
“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.”
Hassan Says He Confronted the Referee
Following the final whistle, Hassan revealed that he spoke directly to referee Letexier about the decisions made during the match.
“What I told the referee was, ‘This is unfair.'”
The Egyptian coach maintained that his team had been denied fair treatment during one of the tournament’s biggest knockout matches.
Argentina Advance
The victory sends Argentina into the quarter-finals as they continue their defence of the FIFA World Cup title.
Messi once again played a decisive role, helping inspire the comeback after Egypt had appeared to be in control for much of the contest.
Neither FIFA nor the match officials had publicly responded to Hassan’s comments at the time of publication.
