Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan stated his team suffered “injustice” in their 3-2 loss to Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16, suggesting match decisions favored the defending champions.
Egypt lost a two-goal lead as Argentina mounted a comeback, with Lionel Messi scoring once and assisting another goal to send the champions to the quarter-finals.
Egypt expressed frustration over several controversial refereeing decisions, including a VAR intervention that disallowed Mostafa Ziko’s goal and the lack of review for a possible foul by Alexis Mac Allister before Enzo Fernández’s stoppage-time winner.
After the match, Hassan stated that Egypt’s elimination was affected by factors beyond football.
“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,” Hassan told reporters.
“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions 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 champions received support at every level.”
Hassan also questioned the appointment of French referee François Letexier, noting that the federation had raised concerns before the match.
“There seems to be pressure from the Argentine side on this outcome,” he said. “We objected to the selection of the referee because of the French situation [Argentina’s 2022 World Cup final victory over France], but everybody has to suffer at some point, and we suffered.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was not given, it wasn’t even checked by VAR, and our second goal was disallowed for reasons we still don’t understand.
“I want to put it in beautiful words and say hard luck, but we have been treated unfairly. It has been an injustice.”
Hassan also confirmed he confronted Letexier after the final whistle.
“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.”
Forward Mostafa Ziko shared his coach’s frustrations, acknowledging the pain of losing after holding a 2-0 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. I still don’t understand why our second goal was disallowed.”
Despite the disappointment, Ziko emphasized that the players remained focused and did not assume victory after their two-goal lead.
“We knew we were playing against the world champions and one of the favorites. If they had beaten us purely through their own efforts, it would have been easier to accept.”
Goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir acknowledged late-game mistakes but said the team could still be proud of its performance.
“Of course, we all made mistakes in the final 10 minutes, but we were playing against the world champions.”
Reserve goalkeeper Mohamed Alaa also criticized the officiating, stating that key decisions affected the outcome.
“The refereeing was obvious for everyone to see. We had a goal ruled out, and we felt we should have been awarded a penalty. Instead, the situation turned into a counterattack that led to their goal.
“Our objections were only about the refereeing decisions—nothing else.”
Alaa said that Captain Mohamed Salah gathered the squad after the match to encourage them.
“Captain Salah came into the dressing room, brought everyone together, and told us, ‘Hard luck. It’s over. This is God’s will. Let’s build on this experience, and better days will come, God willing.'”
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