Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said his team was the victim of an “injustice” in its 3-2 World Cup round-of-16 defeat against Argentina, suggesting FIFA wanted Lionel Messi to “stay in the running” at the competition.
World Cup 2026
Reigning world champions Argentina fought back from down 2-0 to win the game following a stunning late intervention by Messi, who created one goal and scored another.
But Egypt were furious at having a goal disallowed following a VAR review and then a subsequent failure to check on an apparent foul by Alexis Mac Allister in the immediate buildup to Enzo Fernández’s stoppage-time winner. And Hassan said Egypt were beaten by “external factors” as well as events on the pitch.
“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 champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.
Match Details
“In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champion received support at every level.”
The referee for the match was France’s François Letexier, whom Hassan said his team had objected to ahead of the showdown. The coach was further upset that the video assistant referee didn’t feel a need for Letexier to review the apparent Mac Allister foul.
“There seem to be pressures from the Argentina side on this outcome,” he said. “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.
Tournament Impact
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out [an alleged foul on Mo Salah]. 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 said.
– Messi, Argentina ride VAR drama to complete epic comeback vs. Egypt
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