Egypt’s football federation said on Wednesday it had asked for the officiating team that handled the Pharoahs’ 3-2 last-16 defeat by Argentina to be removed from the World Cup.
“Hany Aburida, president of the Egyptian Football Federation, has filed a complaint with FIFA and demanded an investigation into the French referee Francois Letexier… following the serious refereeing errors committed by the team of referees and double standards, which caused the Egyptian team to lose the match and exit the World Cup,” said a statement from the federation.
On Tuesday evening, Letexes disallowed a goal from Mostafa Ziko when Egypt was leading 1-0 after VAR spotted a foul on Lisandro Martinez much earlier in the action.
A few minutes later, Ziko put the Egyptian 2-0 ahead for the first time and on the brink of a place in the last eight, but further controversy arose in extra time after Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi had taken them to championship level.
Ahead of Argentina’s winner, scored by Enzo Fernandez, Egypt believes it should have been awarded a penalty instead for Alexis Mac Allister’s draw against Hamdy Fathy.
“Aburida demanded the investigation of the entire team of referees, including the video technology referees, for the blatant errors and the insistence on not viewing some images that we believe are in favor of the Egyptian national team, and we see in them the right of the Pharaohs to a correct goal and a penalty kick,” the Egyptian statement said.
It added that the president had also “demanded the exclusion of the referee and the entire squad from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes and proving the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team.”
The statement echoed Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan’s comments immediately after the match.
«I don’t want to put it nicely and talk about bad luck. We have been unfairly cheated today, we have suffered injustice,» Hassan told reporters.
«We have not seen respect or fair play. There has been no respect or fair play.»
Hassan told BeIN: «Maybe they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Maybe they wanted Messi to stay in the race.»
«In football there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champion received support at every level.»
Published on July 8, 2026
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