Egypt forward Mostafa Zico has sensationally claimed his side's World Cup defeat to Argentina was "fixed", while head coach Hossam Hassan suggested officials wanted the reigning world champions – and Lionel Messi – to remain in the tournament.
The explosive allegations came after Egypt surrendered a two-goal lead before losing 3-2 to Argentina in their last-16 clash. The Pharaohs had gone close to pulling off a huge upset as they led through goals from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico with 11 minutes left, while Lionel Messi saw his first-half penalty saved.
Controversial officiating decisions
Egypt were left furious after an earlier second-half effort from Zico had been ruled out by VAR, while the officials refused to check a penalty claim after Mohamed Salah went down under Alexis Mac Allister’s challenge in the build-up to Enzo Fernandez’s winner.
Speaking after the match, Hassan questioned the officiating and suggested there were outside influences behind the result. "We looked better than the reigning champions — better in everything — but the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it," he said. "Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running."
Coach and player lash out
Hassan also revealed he confronted referee François Letexier after the final whistle, telling the official the performance had been "unfair". Forward Zico then went even further in a live TV interview immediately after the match, alleging the tournament had been manipulated after criticising the officiating. "The referee was really not fair. Not fair. The referee was not fair," the BBC report him saying. "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."
Neither Hassan nor Zico provided any evidence to support their allegations, while FIFA is yet to comment. Argentina fought back from two goals down to win 3-2 and book their place in the World Cup quarter-finals, keeping alive their hopes of defending the trophy.
Boycott of remaining matches
Hassan said he will now be boycotting watching the World Cup from here on in. "I'm going home and won't be watching any more games from the tournament," he added. "What happened to us wasn't fair. We should have had a penalty, a goal was disallowed, and I don't know why it was disallowed."
