Egypt Makes Formal Complaint to FIFA After Controversial World Cup Exit vs. Argentina

Manager Hossam Hassan didn’t hold back after he felt his side was unfairly eliminated from the World Cup.

Hossam Hassan was beside himself after Egypt’s elimination. | Buda Mendes/Getty Images

An enraged Egypt manager, Hossam Hassan, accused FIFA of protecting its own “interests” by wanting to keep Lionel Messi in the 2026 World Cup, arguing his side suffered an “injustice” in a controversial 3–2 defeat against Argentina, which halted Egypt’s tournament run in the round of 16.

Egypt pushed reigning champion Argentina to the absolute limit, but three unanswered goals from the 79th minute onwards saw La Albiceleste survive and progress to the quarterfinals.

Now, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has filed a formal complaint with FIFA alleging “serious refereeing mistakes” and “double standards” from the match officials.

Egypt argues that referee François Letexier, a seasoned international official who oversaw May’s UEFA Europa League final, “caused the Egypt team to lose the match and leave the World Cup.”

An EFA statement on Wednesday explained: “Hany Abou Rida president of the Egyptian Football Federation, filed a complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into the French referee François Letexier.”

The contentious flashpoints in the game that Argentina won 3–2 after the extraordinary comeback centered on an Egypt goal disallowed for a foul at the other end of the pitch during the buildup and a penalty claim for contact on Mohamed Salah right before Argentina netted the dramatic winner.

Abou Rida called for the “exclusion of the referee and the entire crew” from the remainder of the World Cup and alleged there had been “discrimination” against Egypt.

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“It’s all about money,” Hassan had earlier said. “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.”

“Why isn’t there any fairness in sport,” he continued. “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. I am not going to watch another match in this tournament.”

“There seems to be pressures from the Argentina side on this outcome. In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champion received support at every level.”

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Why Egypt’s Goal vs. Argentina Was Disallowed

Hossam Hassan (left) couldn’t believe the decisions of match referee François Letexier. | Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

In the 58th minute, Egypt’s Haissem Hassan took off running down the right wing, evading Argentina players as he flew up the pitch before finding Salah in a pocket of space. The Liverpool legend then slid a pass perfectly for Mostafa Ziko who came darting into the box from the opposite wing and fired a shot past Emiliano Martínez to double Egypt's lead.

It was a stunning goal, until it wasn’t.

VAR determined that prior to Hassan taking off on his majestic run, Marwan Ateya stepped on Lisandro Martínez, dispossessing him as he was about to enter Egypt’s penalty area. VAR can disallow a goal if a foul occurs and then directly leads to the start of the attacking possession phase (APP) that results in a goal.

Even with the foul taking place on the opposite end of the pitch, it started the possession that led to Ziko finding the back of the net. The fact that a number of Argentina players were clearly able to stop the action from ending in a goal is what seemingly has Egyptians enraged with referee François Letexier, who Hassan and Egypt formally objected to having for the match.

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Egypt Players Slam Refereeing Decisions After Argentina Defeat

Egyptian players bewildered by refereeing decisions. | Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Hassan wasn’t the only one who brutally criticized the refereeing decisions that went in Argentina’s favor during the match.

Ziko eventually did double Egypt’s advantage, but Argentina came from behind regardless. After the match, he also felt like Egypt was treated unfairly, leading to its elimination.

“No fair, no fair. The referee was not fair,” Ziko bemoaned after the match, via BBC. “The injustice was clear. We did a good job in the early stages of the match. There’s been an unfairness, right from the start of the match. A 2–0 lead isn’t enough to beat Argentina, it’s clear that this tournament has been fixed.”

Backup goalkeeper Mohammed Alaa echoed that same sentiment in a declaration of his own.

“The refereeing was obvious in front of everyone,” Alaa said. “I won't talk about it. The refereeing was clear. We had a goal disallowed, and we had a penalty [not called]. The penalty turned into a counter attack goal [for Argentina‘s third goal]. The objections were only toward the referee, meaning regarding the refereeing errors. That’s what we were objecting to, nothing more than that.”

The greatest World Cup campaign in Egypt’s history came to a painful and controversial end. Title-holders Argentina, meanwhile, will now face Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

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