ATLANTA — Egypt’s coach Hossam Hassan expressed his belief that his team faced “injustice” during their 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the World Cup round of 16. He suggested that FIFA might have favored Lionel Messi to remain in the tournament.
The reigning champions, Argentina, rallied from a 2-0 deficit to secure the win, thanks to a remarkable late performance by Messi, who both assisted and scored a crucial goal.
Egypt’s frustration stemmed from a goal that was disallowed after a VAR review, coupled with what they believed to be a missed foul by Alexis Mac Allister in the lead-up to Enzo Fernández’s last-minute winner. Hassan indicated that their loss was influenced by “external factors” beyond just the match itself.
“We performed better than the reigning champions in every aspect, yet the result was swayed by both on-field and off-field factors,” Hassan told reporters. “It seems they aimed to keep the world champions in the competition, perhaps to ensure Messi’s continued presence.”
“In football, there are sometimes external influences that overshadow technical merits. The world champion seemed to have support at various levels.”
Hassan expressed discontent with referee François Letexier from France, noting that his team had previously raised concerns about his appointment. The coach was particularly upset that the VAR did not prompt Letexier to review the alleged Mac Allister foul.
“It appears there were pressures from the Argentina side influencing the outcome,” he stated. “We raised concerns about the referee’s selection due to France’s previous defeat to Argentina in the World Cup final. Unfortunately, we faced the consequences.”
“We haven’t experienced true respect or fair play today,” he continued. “A penalty was dismissed despite an apparent foul on Mo Salah, and our second goal was inexplicably ruled out.”
“While I’d like to express it as mere bad luck, we’ve been treated unfairly, resulting in injustice,” he concluded.
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Hassan was involved in a heated exchange with Letexier post-match, accusing the referee of “having something to hide.”
“What I told the referee was, ‘This is unfair,'” he stated. “I insinuated he might be concealing something.”
Egypt’s forward Mostafa Zico reflected on the match slipping away in the final moments. “It was tough to watch it unravel so quickly. Strange occurrences unfolded on the pitch,” he remarked.
“We felt robbed by the referee’s decisions, and everyone witnessed that. We were in control at 2-0, but everything started working against us thereafter. I cannot comprehend why our second goal was disallowed. It seemed unfounded. We must prepare to prevent such a situation in the future, as it felt like he wanted to disallow the third goal too. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.”
Zico emphasized that they never took the possibility of winning for granted. “No, we didn’t view the match as over at that point,” he said. “We understood we were facing the world champions, a formidable team that is a title favorite.”
“However, if their victory had come purely from their own merit, it would have altered our perspective significantly.”
Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir expressed pride in the team’s perseverance until the end. “Of course, we made mistakes in the last ten minutes, but we were competing against the world champions,” he acknowledged.
Reserve goalkeeper Mohamed Alaa resonated with Zico’s sentiments regarding the impact of the disallowed goal. “The refereeing was evident to all. I won’t dwell on it, but we had a goal disallowed and a penalty turned into a counterattack for them,” he lamented. “Our objections are solely directed at the referee regarding the errors made.”
“Salah gathered everyone in the locker room and conveyed, ‘Hard luck, it’s over. It’s fate and what was meant to happen has occurred. Let’s build on this and hope for better outcomes ahead, God willing.’