Coach Hassan, Ziko Blame Refereeing After Egypt’s World Cup Exit To Argentina

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan has accused match officials of costing his side a place in the quarter-finals after the Pharaohs’ dramatic 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The North Africans were on the verge of one of the tournament’s biggest upsets after opening a 2-0 lead with little more than 10 minutes remaining.

Argentina, however, produced a stunning turnaround as Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernández scored late to send the defending champions through.

The game was overshadowed by controversy after Egypt had what would have been a third goal ruled out following a VAR review, with the referee penalising a foul in the build-up. Hassan also believed his side should have been awarded a penalty.

Despite the collapse, the Egypt coach insisted his team deserved more from the game.

“I’m going home and won’t be watching any more games from the tournament,” Hassan told reporters after the match.

“What happened to us wasn’t fair. We should have had a penalty, a goal was disallowed, and I don’t know why it was disallowed.”

Hassan went on to question the standard of officiating, arguing that the key decisions changed the course of the match.

“Even if the goals came from mistakes, the biggest mistake is not getting what you’re entitled to from those responsible for making the decisions,” added Hassan.

“I’m the type of person who hates losing. And when it’s a defeat that feels unjust like today’s, I can only tell the fans not to be upset. We wanted so much to give them more joy.”

Egypt forward Mostafa Ziko also criticised the officials and backed his manager’s claims after the heartbreaking defeat.

“It was not fair from the referee. It was really not fair, that was very clear. He wasted all of our efforts with his decisons. We were leading 2-0 and we cannot do anything, it’s all up to God,” Ziko told TSN.

“We are so sorry (to the people of Egypt). I am so sorry. We wanted to make you all happy. It was not in the cards. It was the referee. The cup is directed towards Argentina.”