Hossam Hassan accuses Argentina vs Egypt referee of unfair decisions in FIFA World Cup 2026

Egypt lost 2-3 to Argentina.

Egypt lost to Argentina 3-2 in the round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the Atlanta Stadium in Georgia on Tuesday, June 7. The Pharaohs took an early lead over the defending champion in the 15th minute, courtesy of a header from defender Yasser Ibrahim.

Mostafa Ziko scored twice in the game; however, one of his goals was deemed as overruled. While it seemed like the African heavyweights would secure an easy win, Argentina completed a memorable comeback in the last 15 minutes to win 3-2.

Nevertheless, after the game, Egypt manager Hossam Hassan was unhappy with the result.

Also Read: Argentina 3-2 Egypt – Five key takeaways from FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 clash

Hossam Hassan accuses the Argentina vs Egypt referee, Francois Letexier, of hiding things

Egypt boss Hossam Hassan has claimed that his side has been a victim of injustice at the FIFA World Cup. He also stated that the chief governing authority of football, FIFA, wants Lionel Messi to stay in the tournament.

“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.”

He indirectly claimed that the defending champions have been getting support from external factors. Hossam Hassan voiced his concern about the authorities not giving correct decisions. He also discussed the foul on Mohamed Salah in the penalty box, as well as the Egyptian side’s second goal, which was overruled by the referee after consulting VAR.

“In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champion received support at every level. There seem to be pressures from the Argentina side on this outcome. We were objecting to the selection of the referee because of the French situation [Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup final], but everybody has to suffer at some point and we suffered.”

“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out [alleged foul on Mohamed Salah], it was not even checked by the VAR, and our second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.”

Hossam Hassan stated that the results would have been different if the VAR and the referees had made their decisions honestly. He also accused referee Francois Letexier of hiding things in the match. Meanwhile, he also made sure the officials knew he was unhappy with the result and felt some decisions were unfair.

Mostafa Ziko, who scored the second goal for the Pharaohs, also lambasted the officiating in an emotional post-match interview.

“The referee wasn’t good, he was unfair. His injustice was clear. He persecuted us from the start of the match. He doesn’t want us to win,” he said. “It was a rigged game. It wasn’t our fault. That referee… it seems like this match was rigged. We were winning 2-0, and he kept coming at us.”

“Congratulations to Argentina on another World Cup, it seems,” he added.

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