Egypt’s World Cup exit ended in anger, confusion and another flashpoint around the officiating after Hossam Hassan made an X gesture towards referee François Letexier during the dramatic 3-2 defeat to Argentina.

Egypt had looked on course for a historic quarter-final place after moving 2-0 ahead in Atlanta through Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Ziko. But the reigning champions struck three times in the final 11 minutes, with Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernández completing a remarkable turnaround.

According to SPORTbible, Hassan was booked during stoppage time before making the gesture towards Letexier, who then held a lengthy exchange with the Egypt coach and his brother, Ibrahim Hassan.

Hassan’s gesture adds to the controversy

The X gesture immediately drew attention because it is commonly associated with reporting alleged racist abuse. SPORTbible noted, however, that it was not clear whether Hassan was using it for that specific reason or whether it was part of his protest against the officiating.

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Ibrahim Hassan, Egypt’s coach and Hossam’s twin brother, stepped in and tried to bring his brother’s hands back down. He later made a thumbs-up gesture towards Letexier before play continued.

Hassan did not directly explain the gesture in his post-match press conference. Instead, he used his appearance before reporters to criticise the referee, FIFA and what he believed was a lack of fairness in Egypt’s elimination.

“We have suffered injustice”

Egypt’s frustration centred on two major incidents. Ziko had a goal ruled out after a foul in the build-up, and Egypt later appealed for another decision shortly before Argentina completed their comeback.

Hassan felt those moments changed the match.

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Quoted by SPORTbible, via The Athletic, Hassan said: “We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was a ruled out, and a second that should have been checked for a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR.

“A second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed. There seems to have been pressure, on the Argentinian side, on the referee that has brought about this outcome.

“Life is unfair. The world is unfair, okay. But why isn’t there any fairness in sports? I’m not convinced by this outcome and by the way things unfolded in this match.”

Hassan also said Egypt had objected to the appointment of Letexier before the game, with the French official becoming the focus of Egyptian anger after the final whistle.

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Hassan suggests Argentina received help

The Egypt coach went further by suggesting that external factors had influenced 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,” Hassan said.

“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.”

Those comments echoed the anger of Egypt’s players, who felt they had been denied the chance to complete one of the great World Cup shocks.

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Reported by The Scottish Sun, Ziko was also furious with Letexier after the match, saying: “It was a rigged game. It wasn’t our fault. That referee… it seems like this match was rigged.”

Argentina survive and move on

For Argentina, the night ended in relief. Messi had missed a first-half penalty and looked close to a painful exit, but he helped inspire the late comeback as Argentina kept their title defence alive.

Described by The Associated Press, Argentina trailed 2-0 with 11 minutes of normal time remaining before Romero scored in the 79th minute, Messi equalised in the 83rd and Fernández headed in the winner in stoppage time.

Argentina will now face Switzerland in the quarter-finals in Kansas City, Missouri.

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For Egypt, the defeat will be remembered not only for the collapse, but for the sense of injustice that followed. Hassan’s X gesture may remain open to interpretation, but his message after the final whistle was not: Egypt left the World Cup believing the game had been taken out of their hands.