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The Egyptian Football Association has filed a complaint with FIFA over the officiating in Egypt’s 3-2 Round of 16 defeat to Argentina at the 2026 World Cup
In a statement on Wednesday, the federation said its president, Hany Aburida, had requested an investigation into French referee François Letexier and the entire officiating team, including the video assistant referee officials.
The federation alleged that the match was marred by serious officiating errors and inconsistent decision-making that affected the outcome of the encounter.
“Hany Aburida, president of the Egyptian Football Federation, filed a complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into the French referee Francois Letexier… after the serious refereeing mistakes committed by the team of referees and double standards,” said a statement from the federation.
Egypt‘s complaints centred on a first-half decision to disallow a goal by Mostafa Ziko after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review identified an earlier foul on Argentina defender Lisandro Martínez.
Although Ziko later scored to give Egypt a 2-0 lead, Argentina fought back through Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi before Enzo Fernández netted the winning goal.
The Egyptian federation also argued that its team should have been awarded a penalty in the build-up to Argentina’s winner after an alleged foul by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy.
It said the complaint called for the refereeing team to be removed from the remainder of the tournament if investigations confirmed the alleged errors.
“Aburida demanded the investigation of the entire team of referees, including the video technology referees, because of the blatant errors and insisting on not reviewing some of the footage that we believe are in favour of the Egyptian national team, and we see in it the Pharaohs’ right to a correct goal and a penalty,” said the Egyptian statement.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan also criticised the officiating after the match, claiming his side had been denied fair treatment.
“I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice,” Hassan told reporters.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play.”
He suggested decisions during the game favoured the defending world champions and questioned the fairness of the officiating, although he provided no evidence to support the allegation.
“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.
“In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champions received support at every level,”Hassan told broadcaster BeIN Sports.
