Hossam Hassan Accuses FIFA of Favouritism After Egypt's Controversial World Cup Exit

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan has launched a scathing attack on FIFA, accusing football's governing body of favouring defending champions Argentina and captain Lionel Messi following his side's dramatic 3-2 defeat in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16.

The thrilling encounter at the knockout stage was overshadowed by a series of contentious refereeing decisions that left the Egyptian bench and players fuming.

The Pharaohs believed they should have been awarded a second-half penalty after Mohamed Salah appeared to have been pulled inside the box, but the referee waved away the appeals without consulting the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). Egypt's frustrations were compounded when a goal was ruled out following a lengthy VAR review, with officials penalising Marawan Attia for a foul in the build-up.

The controversy did not end there, as Egypt also questioned Argentina's eventual winning goal, arguing Salah had been fouled moments before the move that led to the decisive strike. Tempers flared in the closing stages as several Egyptian players were booked while protests continued.

Speaking to BeIN Sports after the match, as cited by Al Jazeera, Hassan suggested there were external forces working in favour of the reigning champions.

"Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running," he said.

"In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champions received support at every level."

The Egypt coach intensified his criticism during his post-match press conference, insisting his team had been denied justice.

"I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today; we have suffered injustice," Hassan said.

"We haven't seen respect or fair play. A penalty was not given and was not even checked by VAR. A second goal was remarkably disallowed. There was not even a VAR check when we have all seen the image of the shirt being pulled back."

Argentina, who secured a dramatic victory courtesy of Messi's eighth goal of the tournament, now advance to the quarter-finals as they continue their title defence.

Efforts to reach FIFA for comment on Hassan's allegations were unsuccessful at the time of publication.

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