Egypt Coach: We Outplayed Argentina, But Apparently the World Champions Weren't Meant to Be Eliminated

Egypt's head coach, Hossam Hassan, launched a scathing attack on the officiating after his team's 3-2 loss to Argentina in the World Cup Round of 16.

A pivotal moment in the match occurred in the 58th minute when Egyptian forward Mostafa Ziko found the back of the net and celebrated by removing his shirt. However, the referee, François Letexier, disallowed the goal after a VAR review. The decision was made due to a foul by Marwan Attia, who had stepped on Lisandro Martinez earlier in the attacking play.

In the 67th minute, Ziko scored again, and this time the goal stood, putting Egypt up 2-0.

"Today, we played better than Argentina, but football is unfair, and what happened was unjust, despite FIFA advocating for 'fair play,'" Hassan stated.

"The referee disallowed a goal for no apparent reason. The score could have been 3-1, but then Argentina equalized. It's possible commercial interests were at play: 'we don't want Messi to be eliminated, we want the world champion to stay in the tournament,'" he added.

"I thank the players; they did everything asked of them. But often, even when we do what's necessary, our fate is determined by other factors."

"I'm sorry, I would have liked to bring even more joy to the fans by going as far as possible, but I am proud of all the players: we showed an excellent level and made Egyptian, Arab, and African football proud of us. I hate to lose, but this loss is unfair. In football, there are external factors that invalidate the technical aspects," Hossam Hassan emphasized.

"We faced the world champions, who undoubtedly benefited from marketing support, but we have our own style, and we imposed it on all opponents from the start of this World Cup."

"I am satisfied with the players and what they showed, but the result was influenced by external factors. Yes, we made mistakes, but the most important thing is that we didn't get what we deserved in this match," the former Pharaohs striker asserted.

"My ambitions don't end here, nor do the ambitions of Egyptian football, which plays an extremely important role for Africa and the Arab world. Today's match was extremely difficult for our opponents, and I insist that the result was influenced by other factors," Hassan reiterated.

"I thanked all the players. I am very pleased with their efforts, especially considering that our team consists primarily of players from the national league, unlike other teams whose players compete in Europe."

"We hope that justice will prevail. In the first match against Belgium, unfair decisions were made against us, and today we again fell victim to fatal errors. But I tell our fans: be proud, you have a team that fears no opponent," Hossam Hassan concluded.