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SHAH ALAM - “Why isn’t there any fairness in sport? I do not want to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording. We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice. It is my own way of speaking up and standing up.”
Those were the words of Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan after the Pharaohs’ controversial 3-2 defeat to defending champions Argentina in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16, with the veteran tactician declaring he would not watch another minute of the tournament.
Hassan said Egypt had been denied a place in the quarter-finals after a series of contentious refereeing decisions during the dramatic encounter, which saw Argentina recover from two goals down to book their place in the last eight.
“I am not going to watch another match in this tournament,” Hassan said during the post-match interview.
The Egyptian coach directed his criticism at FIFA, alleging the governing body wanted to keep Lionel Messi and the reigning champions in the competition.
“It’s all about money. They want Messi to stay in the tournament.
“In football, many things happen off the pitch because of interests. What happened was unfair. Egypt deserved to qualify. We were the better team," he said.
Egypt looked on course for one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history after Yasser Ibrahim gave the Pharaohs the lead before Mostafa “Ziko” Mohamed Zaki Abdelraouf thought he had doubled the advantage early in the second half.
However, Ziko’s goal was ruled out following a VAR review that deemed Marwan Attia had committed a foul in the build-up.
The winger eventually restored Egypt’s two-goal cushion moments later, making it 2-0 and putting Argentina on the brink of elimination.
But the defending champions mounted a comeback.
Cristian Romero reduced the deficit before Lionel Messi, who had earlier seen his first-half penalty saved by goalkeeper Mostafa Ahmed Shobeir, levelled the score with his eighth goal of the tournament.
Enzo Fernandez then completed the turnaround in stoppage time to hand Argentina a dramatic 3-2 victory.
Hassan said Egypt had also been left frustrated after referee François Letexier did not award what they believed was a foul in the build-up to Argentina’s winning goal, revealing his side had objected to the French official’s appointment before the match.
The sense of injustice was echoed by Ziko, who questioned the officiating after the final whistle.
“After we made it 2-0, everything went against us. I don’t know why this second goal was disallowed,” the winger said.While Argentina progressed to the quarter-finals and will face Switzerland, who beat Colombia 4-3 in a penalty shootout in Vancouver, Canada, the controversy surrounding their victory showed no signs of fading.
The drama is not over. Just minutes after Argentina's controversial victory over Egypt, the organisers International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) announced that an all-Argentine officiating crew will take charge of the World Cup quarterfinal between France and Morocco.
The appointment is unprecedented in this tournament as Referee Facundo Tello and the entire officiating team will come from Argentina, marking the first time at the 2026 World Cup that all match officials for a knockout-stage game are from the same country.
