‘Suffered an injustice': Egypt coach blasts referee in dramatic World Cup exit to Argentina

Egypt ⁠coach ⁠Hossam Hassan said his team was treated unfairly ⁠and "suffered an injustice" in the wake of his team's stunning 3-2 loss to Argentina in a round of 16 match in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Egypt held a 2-0 lead until Argentina's Cristian Romero scored in the 79th minute. Lionel Messi tied it four minutes later and Enzo Fernandez scored the game-winner two minutes into stoppage time.

However, Hassan took issue with referee Francois Letexier on several counts.

Egypt had a goal that had initially put them up 2-0, but it ‌was disallowed following a VAR review. And the Pharaohs were upset that a hard tackle in the penalty ⁠box late in stoppage time was not reviewed.

"I'm not convinced with this outcome. I'm not convinced with the way things unfolded during this match," Hassan said. "I would do not want to ‌try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording, selective wording, and saying hard luck, and so on and ⁠so forth.

"We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice."

Hassan said Egypt had objected to Letexier being the referee, referring to his "background". Letexier is from France.

Nine minutes into extra time, Hassan was issued a yellow card after objecting to the lack of a VAR review.

"I was just saying this is unfair. I was saying ‌maybe he's carrying a scar," Hassan said of their interaction. "Maybe he has something to hide. Whoever has something to hide sometimes fails to hide what he is hiding."

Hassan vowed not to watch another match during the 2026 World Cup after his team came within minutes of upsetting the defending champions.

"We ‌looked better compared to the reigning champions," Hassan said. "We were better in everything, but the result, the outcome, was influenced by internal factors on the pitch, inside the game, and external factors ahead of the game.

"There seemed to have been pressure exercised from the Argentinian side on the referee that had brought about this outcome."

As the drama intensified, Letexier issued a red card to one of Hassan's staff members. By the end of the match, Egypt had been issued five yellow cards while Argentina had none.

"Ordinary life, normal life is unfair, OK, but why isn't there any fairness in sports? Within football," Hassan said.

Despite his team holding a two-goal advantage late into the match, Hassan also questioned the noon start time in Atlanta. The only other match of the day was the final round of 16 match between Colombia and Switzerland at 4pm ET in Vancouver.

"I dare to say that whoever schedules those matches is someone who doesn't and has never played football. It has nothing to do with football, because you never schedule a football match for 12pm, at noon," Hassan said. "At noon you go for a stroll, you go to get some fresh air, to maybe go on a brunch, but you do not go to play football. You do not go onto the ⁠pitch.

"When are the players supposed to eat? Are they supposed to have their meal at 7:30am in order to be capable of playing at noon? Is ⁠this someone trying to outsmart everyone else?

"There have been a lot of things to be questioned on and off the pitch. Negative aspects all around. It's just about credibility, lack of credibility with how things unfolded.

"I'm proud of my players. But we have not received what we deserve."

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)