Argentina 3-2 Egypt: Hossam Hassan says officiating 'unfair' and World Cup 'directed towards' reigning champions

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan said the referee was "unfair" and claimed the World Cup was "directed towards Argentina" following their dramatic 3-2 defeat in the last 16.

Argentina scored three goals in just 13 minutes to steer them clear of a shock exit as reigning champions, which sets up a quarter-final with Switzerland at 2am (UK and Ireland time) on Sunday.

However, the dramatic late winner was clouded by controversy after Hassan claimed his side were denied a penalty moments before Julian Alvarez kickstarted the counter-attack, which led to Enzo Fernandez's 92nd-minute header.

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Alvarez tackled Mohamed Salah inside the penalty area and caught the forward on his foot before taking the ball. VAR did not appear to check the incident.

Alexis Mac Allister also pulled Hamdi Fathy down inside the area moments before but play was waved on.

Those incidents occurred after Egypt had already had a goal ruled out for Zico earlier in the game with the score at 1-0, following a VAR check which deemed Lisandro Martinez had been fouled in the build-up.

Speaking in the press conference after the game, Hassan said: "Life is unfair. The world is unfair. Okay, but why isn't there any fairness in sports? I'm not convinced by this outcome and by the way things unfolded in this match.

"The referee is unfair, God is sufficient for me and the best disposer of affairs. He's wasting the effort of an entire nation. The cup is directed towards Argentina."

Hassan was booked by French referee Francois Letexier for protesting after Argentina's winner when he crossed his arms in front of him, which is the FIFA-backed symbol for players and coaches to alert the referee of a racist incident.

The Egypt boss did not refer to his gesture after the match, but added: "We haven't seen respect or fair play.

"A penalty [for us] was ruled out, it was not even checked by the VAR and our second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.

"We have all seen the shirt pulled back [by Mac Allister] and not even a VAR check.

"There seems to have been pressure on the Argentine side on the referee that has brought about this outcome."

The Epgytian FA added on Wednesday that "several key incidents raised serious concerns and left profound questions about the consistency and fairness of decisions".

'Pressure on referee succeeded'

"We were the best in everything, but the result was... there were factors influencing it, not external, but internal on the pitch, and external before the match," explained Hassan.

"It is clear that the pressure put on the referee before the match by the Argentine side succeeded, because they objected to the referee, bringing up France, and the France national team.

"I want to say, in life, anyone who does things the right way will face hardship. As long as you walk the right path, you will suffer. We walked the right path, we suffered, and we were harmed by external factors."

Argentina win 'entirely undeserved'

He added: "Argentina's victory is entirely undeserved. And I promise you, once I return today, I will not watch football in this World Cup at all, because there is no justice in it.

"My personal protest is that I will not watch this World Cup again. When I get back home and back to our country, I am not watching it."

Sky Sports News has approached FIFA for comment.

Zico: I will not talk about the refereeing

Egypt forward Zico, who scored but had another disallowed, was asked if his tears after the game were for exiting the World Cup or the refereeing decisions his team faced.

"Both. We were hard done by [the referee] today, and everyone saw that," he said. "I won't talk about something like this.

"We were winning 2-0. After the 2-0 result, everything went against us and worked against us. I don't even know why the second goal was disallowed.

"I don't see any reason for it. But we must look for a solution so that a second goal doesn't come. He wanted to disallow the third one too, but thank God, God didn't grant him success.

''The refereeing was obvious in front of everyone. I won't talk about it, the refereeing was clear. We had a goal disallowed, and we had a penalty.

"The penalty was turned against us into a counter-attack goal.''

Egypt FA statement

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Egypt FA said: "The Egyptian Football Association cannot remain silent regarding the refereeing decisions witnessed during the match against Argentina as well as the failure to make appropriate use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system.

"Several key incidents raised serious concerns and left profound questions about the consistency and fairness of decisions that directly influenced the course of the game.

"A number of football experts and specialist analysts, both locally and internationally, have highlighted controversial and influential refereeing incidents during the match. This underlines the importance of maintaining the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and transparency in match officiating, particularly in a competition of the stature and significance of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

"Egyptian football has always respected the principles of fair play, sporting integrity, and respect for the game. These same principles require that all teams compete on equal terms and receive equal treatment. What occurred during the match has understandably generated widespread frustration among our players, staff, and supporters, who expected the highest standards of officiating on football's biggest stage."

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