Egypt were knocked out of the FIFA World Cup 2026 after losing 3-2 to Argentina in the Round of 16 despite leading 2-0. After the match, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan slammed the refereeing, claiming his team had been treated unfairly.

“I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice,” said Hassan.

VAR decisions questioned

His reaction followed several controversial decisions during the match. Egypt had an earlier goal by Mostafa Zico was ruled out after VAR identified a foul on Lisandro Martinez in the build-up. Zico later scored again to put Egypt 2-0 ahead.

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Argentina came back in the closing stages as Cristian Romero scored before Lionel Messi equalised. Messi had earlier missed a penalty after Mostafa Shobeir saved his effort. Enzo Fernandez then scored the winning goal. Egypt believed they should have received a penalty before Argentina’s winner because they felt Alexis Mac Allister had pulled Hamdy Fathy’s shirt.

‘No fair play’

Hassan continued his criticism, saying, “We haven’t seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play.”

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“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,” he said.

“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,” he added as quoted by AFP.

Messi remark, FIFA complaint

The coach also suggested that Argentina had benefited because of Messi, saying, “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.”

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Following the defeat, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) submitted an official complaint to FIFA. According to local media reports, it questioned the refereeing decisions, including the disallowed goal and a late penalty appeal involving Mohamed Salah that the EFA said was not reviewed.

The association also noted that Egypt received five yellow cards and had a staff member sent off, while Argentina finished without any bookings. It further said it had objected to the appointment of referee François Letexier before the match. FIFA had not commented on the complaint.