Egypt’s dramatic exit from the World Cup against Argentina on Tuesday night has triggered an outpouring of anger from fans, players and coaching staff, who have raised several grievances, including allegations of referee bias and a "rigging" of the result in Argentina’s favour .
Egypt led 2-0 for much of the Round of 16 match and were on course to knock out the defending champions thanks to goals from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Ziko. However, the Pharaohs conceded three late goals from Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernández, crashing out in dramatic fashion.
Some Egyptian fans and members of the team's coaching staff have pointed to several decisions made by French referee François Letexier, which they say disadvantaged the Pharaohs, as well as inconsistencies in his officiating.
In a post-match press conference, a furious Hossam Hassan launched a scathing attack on FIFA , describing Egypt's exit as "unfair and unjust" and accusing the governing body of wanting to keep Argentina, the reigning champions, in the competition.
"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 champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted [Lionel] 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," he said.
"We had the right to win and I don't want to say 'hard luck' to us. No, we leave with honour, but the final result is a far cry from the 'fair play' that FIFA talks about, and far from respect. So, there was no respect and no fair play today," he added.
Amid his anger, Hassan vowed he would no longer watch the World Cup following Tuesday night's events.
Mostafa Ziko, one of Egypt's goalscorers, also criticised what he described as the "injustices" his side had suffered.
A visibly distraught Ziko told reporters Letexier had been "unfair" in his officiating.
"The injustice was clear. We did a good job in the early stages of the match. Right from the start, there has been unfairness. A 2-0 lead isn't enough to beat Argentina. It's clear that the tournament has been fixed," he said.
Ziko was particularly emotional after one of his goals was disallowed following a VAR review, which found that a foul had been committed on an Argentinian player in the build-up. The goal would have extended Egypt's lead.
The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has since submitted a formal complaint against Letexier, calling for an investigation into the "double standards" in the officiating of the match.
A statement from the federation read: "Hany Abou Rida, president of the Egyptian Football Association, filed a complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into the French referee François Letexier, after the serious refereeing mistakes committed by the team of referees and double standards which caused the Egypt team to lose the match and leave the World Cup."
The EFA pointed to a series of "blatant errors" in its complaint and urged FIFA to remove Tuesday night's refereeing team from the tournament should an investigation uphold its allegations.
Egyptian football legend Mohamed Aboutrika , who works as a contributor for beIN Sports, also echoed the team's frustrations.
During the live broadcast, Aboutrika said the referee "was against" Egypt and that the decisions "can break the team's and staff's spirit". So, what refereeing errors do Egyptians say were made? A number of refereeing decisions have been highlighted by Egyptian players, staff and supporters as having favoured Argentina.
Fans were particularly angered by the disallowing of Mostafa Ziko's second-half goal, which would have extended Egypt's lead.
The goal came after Haissem Hassan carried the ball from deep inside Egypt's own half before finding Mohamed Salah, who squared it for the Pyramids winger to finish.
After a VAR review, Letexier ruled that Marwan Attia had fouled Lisandro Martínez in the build-up by pulling his shirt and stepping on his foot.
Some commentators argued the referee reached the correct decision, while others questioned whether the incident fell within VAR's remit given how far from goal it occurred.
Another incident has sparked debate over the consistency of VAR. Egypt believed Salah should have been awarded a penalty moments before full-time after an alleged foul by Julián Álvarez, but the incident was not reviewed.
Another flashpoint involved Emam Ashour, with footage appearing to show Nahuel Molina striking him in the face. Critics argued the incident warranted at least a foul, if not a yellow card.
Fans also questioned why VAR did not review whether Alexis Mac Allister had fouled an Egyptian player in the build-up to Enzo Fernández's winning goal, which secured Argentina's place in the quarter-finals.
The incidents have renewed debate over the consistency of VAR and the impact refereeing decisions can have on the outcome of matches.
Questions have also been raised over why Letexier showed Hossam Hassan a yellow card shortly after the Egypt coach made FIFA's crossed-arms "X" gesture. FIFA introduced the signal in 2024 to allow players, coaches and officials to report alleged racist abuse during matches. The reason Hassan used the gesture remains unclear, and FIFA's guidelines do not state that making the signal itself should result in a yellow card. Argentine provocations A series of provocative incidents involving Argentinian fans also took place during and after the match.
In the stands, several Argentina supporters waved Israeli flags towards the Egyptian squad and coaching staff, in what many Egyptians interpreted as a deliberate provocation. Hassan has repeatedly spoken about the plight of Palestinians during the tournament, dedicating Egypt's penalty shootout victory over Australia to the Palestinian people before waving the Palestinian flag.
In an impassioned speech, Hassan said that if "there is anyone in the world who does not feel for the Palestinian people, then they are not human", describing his decision to wave the Palestinian flag as "merely a human reaction" to the suffering in the Gaza Strip.
Some members of the Egyptian coaching staff responded by pointing to the Egyptian badge on their shirts and shouting back at the supporters.
Egypt defender Mohamed Hany was also seen making an obscene gesture towards sections of the crowd.
In another incident, Argentinian fans were filmed throwing plastic cups containing beer towards Egyptian supporters after Argentina's equaliser.
"When we scored, we did nothing to them. After they scored against us, they started attacking us," one fan who recorded the incident said.