Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan launched a blistering attack on the match officials after his side’s 3-2 World Cup last-16 defeat to Argentina, accusing referees and tournament organisers of tilting the competition towards the defending champions.

Egypt led 2-0 and stood on the brink of a seismic upset before Argentina roared back with three goals in 13 frantic minutes, Enzo Fernández heading the winner deep into stoppage time. Yet for Hassan, the story of the night was written not by Argentina’s comeback but by what he called “unfair” officiating.

The decisive moment came just before the winning goal. Julian Álvarez challenged Mohamed Salah inside the penalty area, appearing to catch the Egypt captain’s foot before taking the ball. Egypt’s players appealed furiously for a spot-kick, but play continued and Argentina broke upfield, culminating in Fernández’s dramatic header. VAR did not visibly intervene.

Minutes earlier, Alexis Mac Allister had grappled Hamdi Fathy to the ground in the box, another incident that went unpunished. Those flashpoints followed a first-half controversy when an Egypt goal from Zico was ruled out after a VAR review, which concluded that Lisandro Martínez had been fouled in the build-up.

“Life is unfair. The world is unfair. But why isn’t there any fairness in sports?” Hassan told reporters afterwards. “The referee is unfair. He is wasting the effort of an entire nation. The cup is directed towards Argentina.”

Hassan, visibly incensed on the touchline, was booked by French referee François Letexier after crossing his arms in front of his chest, a gesture officially promoted by FIFA as a signal to report racist incidents. He did not elaborate on the gesture later, but continued his attack on the handling of the match.

“A penalty for us was ruled out, it was not even checked by VAR, and our second goal was remarkably disallowed,” he said. “We have all seen the shirt pulled back and not even a VAR check. There seems to have been pressure on the Argentine side on the referee that has brought about this outcome.”

Hassan went further, suggesting Argentina’s pre-match complaints about officiating had influenced appointments and decisions. “It is clear that the pressure put on the referee before the match by the Argentine side succeeded,” he claimed. “We walked the right path, we suffered, and we were harmed by external factors.”

He ended with a personal boycott. “Argentina’s victory is entirely undeserved. Once I return, I will not watch football in this World Cup at all, because there is no justice in it.”

Forward Zico, who scored and had another effort disallowed, echoed his coach’s frustration. “We were winning 2-0. After that, everything went against us,” he said. “We had a goal disallowed and a penalty. The penalty was turned against us into a counter-attack goal. The refereeing was obvious in front of everyone.”