Egypt Coach Alleges Bias, Says Argentina Were Favoured After World Cup Exit

By Opeyemi Adelakun

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan has accused match officials of denying his side a place in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals, claiming Argentina benefited from controversial decisions in their dramatic 3-2 comeback victory.

A visibly frustrated Hassan, speaking after Tuesday’s Round of 16 defeat, alleged that key officiating calls, including VAR interventions, went against Egypt and altered the outcome of the contest.

“We have been cheated. What happened today was unfair and unacceptable,” Hassan said, insisting his players were deprived of a deserved place in the last eight.

The Egyptian coach questioned the decision to disallow Mostafa Zico’s first-half goal after a VAR review detected a foul earlier in the attacking move. He also argued that his side should have been awarded a penalty late in the game following an alleged shirt pull on Hamdy Fathy during the build-up to Argentina’s winning goal.

According to Hassan, the incidents reflected a lack of fairness from the match officials.

He went further by suggesting that Argentina’s status as defending champions and the presence of captain Lionel Messi may have influenced decisions during the encounter.

“Perhaps they wanted the world champions to remain in the tournament. Perhaps they wanted Messi to continue,” he said.

Egypt had appeared on course for a historic quarterfinal berth after Yasser Ibrahim opened the scoring before Zico doubled the advantage. Argentina, however, mounted a stunning comeback through Cristian Romero, Messi and Enzo Fernandez to snatch victory.

Messi had earlier missed a first-half penalty, with Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir producing a crucial save.

Beyond the officiating, Hassan also criticised the scheduling of the fixture, arguing that the noon kick-off gave players inadequate preparation time and affected the quality of the contest.

The defeat ended Egypt’s impressive World Cup campaign, while Argentina advanced to the quarterfinals, where the defending champions will continue their title defence.