Egypt’s football federation has filed a formal complaint with FIFA demanding an investigation into French referee Francois Letexier following their 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Egyptian Football Federation president, Hany Aburida, submitted the complaint on Wednesday, accusing the officiating team of committing serious errors that directly cost the Pharaohs their place in the quarter-finals.
Egypt Demand Referee Exclusion From World Cup
Aburida’s complaint calls for a full investigation into Letexier and the entire refereeing crew, including VAR officials. The federation said it believes multiple decisions went against Egypt without proper review of available footage.
In a statement, the federation said Aburida demanded the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes and proving what it described as discrimination against the Egyptian national team.
The federation accused the officiating team of applying double standards throughout the match and of refusing to review specific footage that Egypt believed would have shown decisions in their favor.
Disallowed Goal and Penalty Claim at Centre of Row
The controversy began on Tuesday when a goal from Mostafa Ziko was ruled out while Egypt led 1-0. VAR intervened to flag a foul on Lisandro Martinez earlier in the build-up. Egypt disputed the call.
Ziko did score minutes later to put Egypt 2-0 up, putting the Pharaohs on the edge of a first quarter-final appearance at the World Cup. However, Argentina recovered through goals from Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi to level the match.
The decisive blow came when Enzo Fernandez scored Argentina’s winner. In the build-up to that goal, Egypt’s camp believed they should have been awarded a penalty for a pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy. The referee did not intervene, and VAR did not overturn the decision.
The federation’s statement said the blatant errors included insisting on not reviewing footage that they believe supports Egypt’s position on both the disallowed goal and the penalty claim.
Egypt Coach Hassan Accuses Officials of Bias
Head coach Hossam Hassan did not hold back in his post-match press conference on Tuesday, stating directly that his team had been cheated.
“I do not want to talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today; we have suffered injustice,” Hassan told journalists after the final whistle.
Hassan went further in a separate interview with BeIN Sports, raising questions about motivations behind the officiating.
“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.”
Hassan’s post-match comments set the tone for the federation’s formal complaint submitted the following day.
Argentina, the reigning world champions, now progress to the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup. Their path through the tournament has drawn scrutiny beyond just the Egypt match, though FIFA had not issued any public response to the Egyptian federation’s complaint at the time of this report.
The Egyptian federation said Aburida is demanding not just a review of the decisions made during the match but accountability for what it describes as a failure by the officiating team to follow proper VAR protocols.
Details of how FIFA will respond to the complaint or the timeline for any investigation were not immediately available. FIFA regulations do not provide for results to be overturned on the basis of refereeing complaints, meaning Egypt’s World Cup exit stands regardless of any outcome from the process.
The Pharaohs’ run to the round of 16 was widely considered a strong showing, and an exit under such circumstances has sparked frustration within the federation and among supporters of the African side.
No comment was available from referee Letexier or the French football federation at the time of publication. FIFA also did not issue an official statement addressing the allegations made by Egypt.
