The Egyptian Football Federation has lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into the officiating team that handled Egypt’s dramatic 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The federation, in a statement released on Wednesday, called for the removal of French referee François Letexier and the entire match officiating crew from the tournament, accusing them of making “serious refereeing mistakes” that contributed to Egypt’s elimination.
According to the federation, its president, Hany Aburida, submitted the complaint to FIFA, alleging that the officials applied double standards throughout the encounter and failed to properly review key incidents involving the Egyptian team.
The controversy began after Mostafa Ziko’s first-half goal, which would have given Egypt the lead, was ruled out following a VAR review that detected a foul on Argentina defender Lisandro Martínez earlier in the build-up.
Ziko later restored Egypt’s advantage by making it 2-0, putting the Pharaohs on course for a historic first-ever World Cup quarter-final appearance.
However, Argentina fought back through Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi to level the score before Enzo Fernández netted the winning goal in stoppage time.
Egypt argued that the decisive goal should never have stood, insisting the team ought to have been awarded a penalty moments earlier after Alexis Mac Allister allegedly pulled Hamdy Fathy inside the penalty area.
In its petition, the Egyptian federation urged FIFA to investigate both the on-field officials and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) team, maintaining that crucial incidents in Egypt’s favour were ignored.
The federation also insisted that the officiating errors deprived Egypt of a legitimate goal and a clear penalty, describing the decisions as unacceptable.
Head coach reaction
Reacting after the match, Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan accused the officials of denying his team a fair contest.
“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 journalists.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play.”
Speaking further to BeIN Sports, the Egyptian coach suggested external influences may have favoured the defending champions.
“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,” he said.
