Egypt coach Hossam Hassan has accused officials of unfair treatment after his team was eliminated from the World Cup quarterfinals by Argentina. In a gripping last-16 match held in Atlanta on July 7, 2026, Egypt took an early lead against the world champions within 15 minutes and doubled it in the second half. However, Argentina mounted a late comeback to win 3-2.

Hassan claimed his side was “cheated” out of victory, citing a disallowed goal by Mostafa Zico when Egypt was leading 1-0. The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervened to rule out the goal due to a foul on Lisandro Martinez earlier in the play. Despite Zico later doubling Egypt's lead, Argentina fought back with goals from Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi, the latter scoring his eighth goal of the tournament.

After the match, Hassan expressed his frustration in a post-match news conference, stating, “We have been cheated unfairly today; we have suffered injustice.” He also suggested, "Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition."

Hassan further criticized the scheduling of the match, which kicked off at noon (16:00 GMT), just four days after both teams had won their round of 32 matches. The coach said he would not watch any more matches of the tournament due to the perceived injustice.

The match saw Egypt initially take the lead through a header by Yasser Ibrahim, but Argentina was awarded a penalty following a trip on Nicolas Tagliafico, contributing to their comeback.

Sources