Egypt players accuse French referee of unfair decisions after Argentina World Cup defeat

Egyptian players strongly criticized French referee François Letixet, who officiated the Pharaohs' match against Argentina, asserting that he caused their 2-3 loss and elimination from the World Cup in the round of 16.

The referee disallowed a goal by Mostafa Zico in the 58th minute, and Egyptian players appealed for a penalty kick. He also excessively issued cards to only one team.

After the match, a tearful Mostafa Zico told reporters, “The referee was neither impartial nor fair. He clearly wronged us and wasted the efforts of an entire country. From the very first minute, he instilled a negative feeling in the players.”

He continued, “May God be my witness. This tournament is rigged.”

The Arab public unanimously agreed on social media that the Egyptian national team suffered a clear injustice. For his part, Hossam Hassan, the Egyptian coach, raised the “No to Racism” badge that FIFA introduced in 2014 to alert the referee to racism, perhaps in reference to the referee who made a distinction between one team and another.

Egypt held a 2-0 lead until Argentina's Cristian Romero scored in the 79th minute. ‌Lionel Messi tied it four minutes later and Enzo Fernandez scored the game-winner two minutes into stoppage time.

However, Hassan took ​issue with referee ⁠Francois Letexier on several counts. Egypt had a goal that had initially put them up ‌2-0, but it was disallowed following a ‌VAR review. And the Pharaohs were upset that a hard tackle in the penalty box late in stoppage time was not reviewed.

"I'm not convinced with this outcome. I'm not convinced with the way things unfolded during this match," Hassan said. "I would do not want ‌to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording, selective wording, and saying hard luck, and so on and so forth.

Hossam Hassan argues with referee Francois Letexier. AFP

"We ⁠have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice."

Hassan said Egypt had objected to Letexier being the referee, referring to his "background." Letexier is from France.

Nine minutes into extra time, Hassan was issued a yellow card after objecting to the lack of a VAR review.

"I was just saying this is unfair. I was saying maybe he's carrying a scar," Hassan said of their interaction. "Maybe he has something to hide. Whoever has something to hide sometimes fails to hide what he is hiding."

Hassan vowed ​not to watch another match during the 2026 World Cup after his team came within minutes of upsetting ‌the defending champions.

"We looked better compared to the reigning champions," Hassan said. "We were better in everything, but the result, the outcome, was influenced by internal factors on the pitch, inside the game, and external factors ahead of the game.

"There seemed to have been ⁠pressure exercised from the Argentinian side on the referee that had brought about this outcome."

As the drama intensified, Letexier issued a red card to one of Hassan's staff members. By the end of the match, Egypt had been issued five yellow cards while Argentina had none.

"Ordinary ​life, normal life ‌is unfair, OK, but why isn't there any fairness in sports? Within football," Hassan said.

Despite his team holding a two-goal ‌advantage late into the match, Hassan also questioned the noon start time in Atlanta. The only other match of the day was the final round of 16 match between Colombia and Switzerland at 4 p.m. ET in Vancouver.

"I dare to say that whoever schedules those matches ‌is someone who doesn't ‌and has never played football. It has nothing to do with ⁠football, because you never schedule a football match for 12 p.m., at noon," Hassan said. "At noon you ‌go for a stroll, you go to get some fresh air, to maybe go on a brunch, but you do not go to play football. You do not go onto the pitch.

"When are the players ⁠supposed to eat? Are they supposed to have their meal at 7:30 a.m. in order to be capable of ​playing at noon? Is this someone trying to outsmart everyone else?

"There have been a lot of things to be questioned on and off the pitch. Negative aspects all around. It's just about credibility, lack of credibility with ⁠how things unfolded.

"I'm proud of my players. But we have not received ​what we deserve."