Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan has questioned the officiating after his side’s 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup round of 16 on Tuesday, www.aclsports.com reports.
Egypt produced a spirited performance against the defending champions and looked on course for a famous victory after taking a two-goal lead, but Argentina mounted a late comeback to end the Pharaohs’ World Cup campaign.
Despite the defeat, Hassan praised his players, coaching staff and everyone involved with the national team, insisting that Egypt earned worldwide respect with their performance.
“I thank the players from the bottom of my heart. I am proud of them. We have a local coaching staff and mostly home-based players, yet we competed against some of the most expensive players in the world,” Hassan said during his post-match press conference.
The Egypt coach insisted his team had been the better side for large spells and argued that the result was influenced by factors beyond his team’s control.
“We were better in everything except the result. The outcome was influenced by what happened on the pitch and by things that happened before the match,” he said.
Hassan questioned several refereeing decisions during the match, claiming Egypt were denied key calls, including penalty appeals and a goal that was ruled out.
“There was no respect and no fair play because a penalty was ruled out. Another situation that should have been a penalty for us was not even checked by VAR. A second goal was also disallowed and there was not even a VAR check. We all saw the shirt being pulled, but there was no review,” he added.
The former Egypt striker admitted he was not convinced by the outcome of the match and rejected the idea of simply describing the result as bad luck.
“I do not want to use beautiful words and say ‘hard luck’ and things like that. We were treated unfairly today. We suffered injustice,” Hassan said.
However, Hassan insisted Egypt would leave the tournament with pride despite the disappointment.
“We are going with our heads held high. It is about credibility and the lack of credibility in how things unfolded,” he said.
“I am proud to be Arab. I am proud of the Arab world. I am proud to be African. I am proud of my players. But we did not receive what we deserved.”
Asked whether his previous comments about Palestine could have influenced Egypt’s treatment during the match, Hassan said he was only expressing his personal opinion.
Reflecting on his exchange with the referee, Hassan revealed that his message was simple.
“I only told him one thing: this is unfair,” he said.
Hassan concluded by saying he would not watch the remainder of the tournament as a form of personal protest.
“I promise you that from the moment I go back, I will not continue following the matches of this FIFA World Cup. I will not watch a single match of this tournament,” he said.
“This is my internal fight, my internal objection, my own way of speaking up and standing up against what happened today.”
