‘Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition,’ Hassan said after his team was knocked out.By AFP and ReutersPublished On 7 Jul 20267 Jul 2026Egypt coach Hossam Hassan claims his side was “cheated” out of a place in the World Cup quarterfinals after Argentina staged a stunning late comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in a gripping last-16 match in Atlanta.The Pharaohs started as underdogs but took the lead against the world champions within 15 minutes, which was doubled in the second half before Argentina walked away with the win on Tuesday.“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 in an explosive post-match news conference.Egypt had a Mostafa Zico goal ruled out when they were leading 1-0 as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervened to spot a foul on Lisandro Martinez much earlier in the move.Zico did then put Egypt on the brink of a place in the last eight for the first time by doubling their lead.However, the defending champions hit back as Cristian Romero reduced the arrears before Lionel Messi, who had a first-half penalty saved, smashed in the equaliser with his eighth goal of the tournament.The controversy did not end there, though, as in the buildup to Argentina’s winner scored by Enzo Fernandez, Egypt believe they should have instead been awarded a penalty for a pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy.“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play,” Hassan said.“A penalty was ruled out, was not even checked by VAR. A second goal was remarkably disallowed. There has not even been a VAR check when we have all seen the image of the [shirt] being pulled …
