Egypt: Hossam Hassan cries injustice after Argentina defeat

07.07.26 FT World Cup

Argentina

3

:

Egypt

2

On Tuesday night, Egypt were stunned by Argentina (2-3), squandering a two-goal lead up to the 79th minute in the Round of 16 at this 2026 World Cup. Since then, Egypt has struggled to come to terms with their elimination.

The Egyptian Pharaohs are furious with French referee François Letexier. In the eyes of head coach Hossam Hassan, the Frenchman favored the reigning world champions.

"We were better than the world champions in many areas, but the result was influenced by factors outside the game. There was pressure from Argentina on the referee. We did things right, but we suffered. Maybe everyone here who isn't Egyptian doesn't feel this, but I have to say we honored our colors despite the defeat. We didn't see respect or fair play. The penalty was awarded after a play that could have given us a penalty as well, but it wasn't checked by VAR. Several other incidents, with shirt-pulling, were also not checked by VAR," said the former Jordan coach.

"The world is unfair, life is unfair. But why does injustice exist in sport? I'm not convinced by everything that happened in this match. We suffered an injustice. Scheduling this match at noon makes no sense. We eat at noon, we don't go out on the pitch. I'm proud to be African, proud to be Arab, proud of my players. But we didn't get what we deserved. I'm telling you my opinion, I won't keep watching matches at this World Cup," he added.

Joshua SOSSOU

Editorfr, en, ar

As a sports fan, and particularly a football fan, I've been putting my writing talent to good use for a number of years now to promote African talent and the continent's football in general. On Foot Africa, enjoy reading each of my lines.

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