ATLANTA —Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said his team were the victim of an “injustice” in their 3-2 World Cup round of 16 defeat against Argentina, suggesting FIFA wanted “Lionel Messi to stay in the running” at the competition.
Reigning world champions Argentina fought back from 2-0 down to win the game in Atlanta following a stunning late intervention by Messi who created one goal and scored another.
But Egypt were furious at having a goal disallowed following a VAR review and then a subsequent failure to check on an apparent foul by Alexis Mac Allister in the immediate build-up to Enzo Fernández‘s stoppage time winner. And Hassan said that Egypt were beaten by “external factors” as well as events on the pitch.
“We looked better than the reigning champions — better in everything — but the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it,” Hassan told reporters.
“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion 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 champion received support at every level.
“There seem to be pressures from the Argentina side on this outcome. We were objecting to the selection of the referee because of the French situation [Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup final], but everybody has to suffer at some point and we suffered.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out [alleged foul on Mohamed Salah], it was not even checked by the VAR and our second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.
“We have all seen the shirt pulled back [by Mac Allister] and not even a VAR check. Life is unfair, normal life is unfair, so why is there no fairness in sports?
“I’m not convinced by this outcome and the way things unfolded in this match.
“I want to put it in beautiful words and say hard luck, but we have been treated unfairly and it has been an injustice.”
– Messi, Argentina ride VAR drama to complete epic comeback vs. Egypt
– Messi saves Argentina in historic World Cup rally past Egypt
– Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Brunson lead reaction to Argentina-Egypt stunner
Hassan was involved in a verbal confrontation with referee Francois Letexier at the end of the game and he said he accused the official of “having something to hide.”
“What I told the referee was ‘this is unfair,’ Hassan said. “I said maybe he is carrying a scar or has something to hide.
“If somebody is trying to hide something, they often fail to hide it.
“Anyway, when I am finished, I am not going to watch another game of this tournament.”
