“Maybe they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Maybe they wanted Messi to stay in the race,” Egypt national team coach Hossam Hassan fumed on beIN Sports after his team’s 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
“This match was rigged and the whole world saw it,” he said.
At the end of the second half, Egypt took a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Yasser Ibrahim (15th minute) and Mustafa Zico (67th). Then, the defending champion came back and turned the match around. Cristian Romero (79), Lionel Messi (83), and Enzo Fernandez (90+2) scored to seal the victory and a place in the quarter-finals.
‘The efforts of the entire nation were destroyed’
The defeat left a very bitter taste in the mouth of the seven-time Africa Cup of Nations winners. He blamed French referee François Letexier for denying him the historic victory.
Mustafa Zico said, “The referee behaved inappropriately and destroyed the efforts of the entire country. The trophy is being handed to Argentina,” in the words of coach Hassan, after “for whatever reason” the video assistant referee (VAR) had disallowed the goal in the 58th minute.
In defense of the referee, during a sequence in which Egypt gained possession before the goal, an Egyptian player apparently stepped on the foot of an Argentine player in possession, causing him to go down. In the eyes of some, the rejection of the goal was justified. Others believe that the violation was minor and well away from goal and was not the kind of error that VAR should have intervened in at this tournament.
Potential fines go unchecked
This was not the only controversial issue. The Egyptians were particularly upset by another incident: “The penalty for us wasn’t even checked by VAR,” Hassan complained.
He and his team said that a foul had been committed against Hamdy Fathy inside the Argentina penalty area just minutes before Fernández scored the winning goal – a view shared by some neutral observers.
Alexis McAllister grabbed Fathy’s jersey away from the ball and pulled the Egyptian, causing him to lose the chance to reach and potentially convert the rebound.
After the match, the Egyptian FA lodged an official complaint with FIFA, football’s world governing body. EFA president Hany Abo Rida accused referee Letexier of “serious errors” and demanded not only an investigation into the incidents, but also the entire officiating team’s exclusion from the World Cup.
He said the referee “applied a double standard, resulting in the Egyptian team losing the match and being eliminated.” Abo Rida further criticized “gross errors and a refusal to review specific video sequences”.
Germany’s former referee is considering this
“You can see the jersey being pulled,” former Bundesliga referee Patrick Ittrich told viewers on Germany’s Magenta TV. “To me, it’s a punishment.”
Ittrich also noticed a general imbalance in the way referees officiated the game.
“All the controversial decisions went against Egypt. The negative sentiments are understandable,” he said.
He also said, “The procedures adopted regarding the video assistant were correct.”
Ittrich speculated that VAR did not consider the shirt pulling incident significant or obvious enough to intervene.
Lutz Wagner, a former Bundesliga referee and head of referee training at the German Football Association (DFB), assessed the situation similarly.
“Very foolish behavior by Argentina,” he told viewers on German public broadcaster ARD. “If the whistle had blown Argentina would not have been able to complain.”
National team coach Hasan blamed Argentina and claimed that they had “put pressure on the referee.”
“We deserved to win, but we were not given any respect or shown fair play,” Hassan said. “Life is unfair, the world is unfair, but why isn’t there fairness in football, in sports? We were treated unfairly.”
disdain for fifa
Ever since FIFA suspended the red-card ban against American striker Folarin Balogun following President Donald Trump’s phone call, the door has been open to speculation about match-fixing and favoritism.
The English FA announced that it was considering – possibly partly in jest – appealing against the red card and consequently suspending defender Jerrel Kwansa for the quarter-final against Norway, even though there is no standard appeal process for red cards. The topic has since gone viral on social media with many memes circulating.
In this context, a comment by former German national team goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, who suggested revisiting the yellow card issued to German captain Michael Ballack during the 2002 World Cup semi-final, should also not be taken entirely seriously.
Kahn wrote on He also called for a replay of the 2002 final against Brazil, which Germany lost 2–0.
lack of credibility
FIFA will face credibility issues even after this World Cup. Still, the organization seems largely uninterested in providing open targets to its critics. Regarding Trump’s phone call, it would have been easy to point to existing rules and uphold Balogun’s suspension.
FIFA has unnecessarily exposed itself to criticism over alleged bias towards Argentina. For the quarter-final match between France and Morocco, it appointed an entirely Argentine officiating team. This caused at least some surprise in the French media, given that France, along with Argentina, was considered one of the favorites for the World Cup title.
The French team itself seems careless.
Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano said, “I don’t focus on who the referee is. We have never done that. We are focused on Morocco and want to win the match.”
Are concerns about the appointment of an all-Argentine officiating team guaranteed to be expressed during the 90 to 120 minutes on the pitch.
This article was originally written in German.