Members of Egypt’s national team have accused FIFA of fixing the 2026 World Cup following the North African country’s controversial exit from the tournament after a 3-2 loss to Argentina in their round of 16 match on Tuesday. 

Egypt led the game with a two-goal lead with just 11 minutes remaining before conceding three goals as Argentina secured their place in the quarter-finals.

However, the manner in which Argentina’s third goal came has sparked debates among football commentators after referee Francois Letexier awarded the goal despite protests by Egyptian players of fouls in the play leading up to it. 

The referee had earlier in the opening minutes of the second half overturned a goal scored by Egypt for a foul on Lisandro Martinez in the build up, which many fans have drawn similarities between and Argentina’s winning goal. 

Speaking to the BBC after the match in an emotional-laden voice, Egyptian forward, Mostafa Zico, described the officiating of the referee in the match as unfair, claiming the tournament was fixed for Argentina.

“The referee was really not fair. Not fair. The referee was not fair. The injustice was clear. We did a good job in the early stages of the match. There’s been an unfairness right from the start of the match. A 2-0 lead isn’t enough to beat Argentina. It’s clear that this tournament has been fixed,” Zico stated. 

Head coach Hossam Hassan also argued in the same line while talking to reporters. The 59-year-old described the manner in which Egypt lost the match as an injustice and implied FIFA wanted Argentina to remain in the tournament. 

“I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice. We haven’t seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play,” the coach said. 

“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 told BeIN. 

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced on Wednesday that it has filed a complaint with FIFA, demanding investigation into Letexier and his entire crew of referees as well as their expulsion from the World Cup. 

“Hany Abou Rida, president of the Egyptian football federation, filed a complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into the French referee Francois Letexier after the serious refereeing mistakes committed by the team of referees and double standards, which caused the Egypt team to lose the match and leave the World Cup,” EFA wrote. 

The federation added that it “demanded the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes,” claiming “the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team.”