ATLANTA, USA — Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan has accused match officials of unfair treatment after his team suffered a dramatic 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16.
Egypt appeared on course for a historic quarter-final qualification after taking a 2-0 lead against the defending champions, but Argentina staged a late comeback to secure victory and end the Pharaohs’ World Cup dream.
Speaking after the match, Hassan expressed anger over several refereeing decisions, claiming Egypt had been “cheated” out of a place in the last eight.
“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.
The Egyptian coach was particularly frustrated by the disallowed goal scored by Mostafa Zico while Egypt were leading 1-0. The goal was ruled out after a VAR review identified an earlier foul on Argentina defender Lisandro Martinezduring the build-up.
Zico later scored Egypt’s second goal to put the team close to a historic victory, but Argentina responded through Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi, and Enzo Fernandez to complete a stunning turnaround.
Hassan also questioned the decision not to award Egypt a penalty during the build-up to Argentina’s winning goal, alleging that Alexis Mac Allister pulled Hamdy Fathy’s shirt inside the box.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play,” Hassan said, insisting that VAR should have reviewed the incident.
The coach said the decisions had left him so disappointed that he would not continue watching the remaining matches of the tournament as a form of protest.
The defeat marked a heartbreaking end to Egypt’s campaign after they pushed the world champions to their limit and came within minutes of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time.
Argentina will now advance to the next round, while Egypt are left reflecting on a performance that generated global attention despite their controversial elimination.
