Egypt Lodge Official Complaint Over Refereeing in Argentina Defeat

The Egyptian Football Association has escalated their response to the controversial refereeing decisions that accompanied Egypt’s Round of 16 defeat to Argentina at the 2026 FIFA World Cup by submitting an official complaint to FIFA, calling for an investigation into the French officiating team over what it described as “match-defining errors” that influenced the outcome of the contest.

Egypt’s World Cup campaign ended in dramatic fashion with a 3-2 defeat to the defending champions after the Pharaohs had established a two-goal lead before Argentina mounted a late comeback. The match generated widespread debate because of several controversial refereeing decisions.

In an official statement, the Egyptian Football Association confirmed that their president, Hany Abo Rida, had formally requested that FIFA investigate French referee François Letexier, the entire officiating crew, and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) team, arguing that the match featured serious refereeing mistakes and an inconsistent application of the Laws of the Game.

The most controversial moment came during the first half when the referee disallowed a goal scored by Mostafa Abdel Raouf “Zizo” following a VAR review, which determined that there had been a foul on Argentina defender Lisandro Martínez during the build-up to the attack. The decision sparked strong protests from Egypt’s coaching staff and players.

Despite the setback, Zizo went on to score another goal later in the match to give Egypt a commanding lead and leave the Pharaohs on the verge of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

However, the controversy returned in the closing stages after Argentina levelled through Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi before Enzo Fernández scored the dramatic winner in stoppage time.

The Egyptian Football Association believes that Argentina’s winning goal should never have stood, claiming that the move was preceded by a clear foul inside the Egyptian penalty area. According to Egypt’s version of events, Hamdy Fathy was pulled by midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, an incident the federation believes should have resulted in a penalty for Egypt before play continued.

The statement confirmed that the federation has requested a full investigation into every member of the officiating team, including the VAR officials, citing what it considers significant refereeing errors and the failure to review several incidents that, in its view, warranted an on-field review, including both the disallowed goal and the penalty appeal.

The Egyptian FA president also called for the referee and his officiating team to be removed from the remainder of the World Cup should the investigation establish that serious errors or any form of discriminatory treatment towards the Egyptian national team occurred during the match.

The complaint follows the criticism voiced immediately after the final whistle by Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan, who argued that his team had been negatively affected by refereeing decisions that directly influenced both the course and the outcome of the match.

Speaking at his post-match press conference, Hassan insisted he did not want to attribute the defeat solely to bad luck, claiming instead that Egypt had been treated unfairly and that sporting justice had not been upheld throughout the contest.

He also expressed his disappointment with what he described as a lack of fair play and respect, suggesting that his side had not received the treatment expected in a match of such importance.

In subsequent remarks, the Egyptian coach went even further, hinting that there may have been a desire to keep defending champions Argentina in the tournament, suggesting that Lionel Messi’s continued presence in the competition could have influenced certain decisions.

Hassan added that football is not always decided purely by what happens on the pitch and argued that other factors can sometimes come into play, claiming that, from his perspective, Argentina benefited from support on several levels, which he believed was reflected in the events that ultimately brought Egypt’s World Cup campaign to an end.