Egypt coach blasts referee after exit to Argentina
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan will not be watching any more of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, blaming refereeing errors for his country's heartbreaking elimination from the tournament at the hand of Argentina in an explosive post-match press conference.
Egypt was 2-0 up with 11 minutes left of its Round of 16 clash against the holder Argentina, agonisingly close to one of the great FIFA World Cup upsets, only to concede three goals in the closing stages and go out.
It was picked apart at the end of the game by a Lionel Messi-inspired comeback, but Hassan insisted his team was better, claiming that it was "clearly a rigged match" in an explosive press conference.
Egypt, playing in its first Round of 16 tie at the FIFA World Cup, looked set to pull off a seismic shock against the defending champion after going two goals in front at Atlanta Stadium.
Yasser Ibrahim's header put Egypt into a 15th-minute lead before Mostafa Zico, who had an earlier goal ruled out by the video assistant referee (VAR), doubled the advantage in the 67th minute.
However, two goals in four minutes from Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi turned the game on its head, before Enzo Fernandez headed in the winner in stoppage-time.
Zico's disallowed goal came after Marwan Attia had fouled Lisandro Martinez in the build-up, while late appeals for a penalty after a tug on Hamdy Fathy by Alexis Mac Allister were waved away before Fernandez's late intervention.
"I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice," Hassan said.
"I will say what's on my mind regardless of the consequence. This was clearly a rigged match, and the whole world saw it.
"And I want to say one more thing, if they want Argentina to win so badly, why call everyone to come and participate?"
Hassan continued his outburst throughout much of his press conference, with most of his complaints aimed at there being no intervention for the incident involving Fathy.
"We haven't seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play," Hassan added.
"A penalty was ruled out, was not even checked by VAR. A second goal was remarkably disallowed.
"There has not even been a VAR check when we have all seen the image of the [shirt] being pulled back."
Egypt's early lead had looked in jeopardy when Haissem Hassan brought down Nicolas Tagliafico in the penalty area, but Mostafa Shobeir brilliantly saved Messi's spot-kick.
"Even if the goals came from mistakes, the biggest mistake is not getting what you're entitled to from those responsible for making the decisions," Hassan fumed.
"I'm the type of person who hates losing. And when it's a defeat that feels unjust like today's, I can only tell the fans not to be upset. We wanted so much to give them more joy."
Hassan also said that because of the injustice that he felt, he would not be watching any more matches for the rest of the FIFA World Cup.
"I'm going home and won't be watching any more games from the tournament," he said.
"What happened to us wasn't fair. We should have had a penalty, a goal was disallowed, and I don't know why it was disallowed."
Egypt had been surprisingly attacking early on in the game, a departure from Hassan's usual tactic of playing with a tight defence and looking for counter-attack opportunities.
It helped the Pharaohs take an early lead, but it was the heroics of goalkeeper Mostafa Shoubir that ensured they remained in front by half-time.
"But what made me happy was that my players followed the game plan on many occasions and worked very well," Hassan said.
"I'm very, very satisfied with the effort they put in. Most of our players come from the Egyptian domestic league, while many players in other national teams are based in Europe and live in that professional environment," Hassan added.
"Yet with predominantly local players – besides Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush – we were able to compete with anyone."
