Egypt are frustrated after being eliminated from the World Cup, placing the blame squarely on referee François Letexier, and the country’s leaders have lodged a complaint with FIFA.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan was upset by some referee decisions (Image: Photo: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
Egypt plans to lodge an official protest with FIFA following referee François Letissier’s performance in their World Cup last-16 defeat to Argentina.
Lionel Messi and others scored three goals in the final 15 minutes to overturn a two-goal deficit and the Africans were swept away by the world champions in dramatic style.
Egypt’s hopes of a big upset were dashed by a late Enzo Fernandes header, but the team felt the referee played a key role in the defeat with two major decisions against them. As a result, Egyptian Football Association president Hany Abo Rida has filed a formal complaint, Diario AS reported.
Egypt had their second goal canceled due to VAR intervention due to a foul on the other side of the pitch before they could score. Crucially, a similar foul was ignored by the referee despite being committed during the build-up to Argentina’s winner.
The Pharaohs felt they should have given a penalty before the decisive fifth goal, as Mohamed Salah was brought down in the box following a challenge from Julian Alvarez.
Egypt is currently seeking an explanation for the referee’s decision and is calling for an investigation into the controversial call. The federation also formally called for the French refereeing team that presided over the elimination to be excluded from the remainder of the tournament.
Argentina’s winner caused an unpleasant scene on the touchline, with the Egyptian bench raising their arms at a decision that went against them. Goalkeeping coach Saffan El Sagiya was shown a red card and coach Hossam Hassan had to be dragged away after a collision with the referee.
Egypt furious with Argentina’s winning goal (Image: Getty Images)
Get the latest 2026 World Cup news in your inbox with our Make Football Great Again newsletter
Hassan said: “Why is there no fairness in sports? In football? I don’t know how to express it in beautiful words. Today we have been treated unfairly. We have suffered injustice.”
He also asserted that there was a determination by the soccer world’s leaders to keep the Argentina national team and Messi in the tournament. “It might be a marketing issue, they might want to make a World Cup with the defending World Cup champions, they might want Messi to be present (in the tournament),” the Egyptian coach suggested.
“I wish I could be happier after losing. When you lose as bad as today, I hope they (the players) are upset. I wish they could be happier. Thank God for everything, but football is different from what happens in the stadium when you play against the world champions.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Upgrade your World Cup TV setup with Sky Glass ‘designed for soccer’
From £6
sky
Get the deal here
Shoppers can now upgrade to a Sky smart TV ‘designed for football’ from £6 a month when used with a Sky TV and Netflix package.
