The Egyptian Football Federation has submitted a formal complaint to FIFA against French referee Francois Letexier and his officiating team following their World Cup 2026 exit.
The complaint arrives as Egypt currently sits second in their World Cup group with 5 points from 3 matches, having scored 5 goals and conceded 3. Their recent form across the last five games shows one win, three draws, and one loss, including the recent defeat to the world champions.
The Egyptian FA accused the officiating team of committing serious mistakes that directly impacted the match outcome. The complaint follows referee Francois Letexier's decision to disallow a first-half goal from Mostafa Ziko after VAR intervention. The incident occurred following a foul by Lisandro Martinez on an Egyptian player earlier in the move.
Ziko later scored another goal to give Egypt a 2-0 lead, but Argentina fought back through Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi before Enzo Fernandez netted the winner. The Egyptian federation claimed the referee ignored a clear pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy during added time, which should have resulted in a penalty for Egypt.
Hany Aburida, president of the Egyptian Football Federation: "Aburida demanded the investigation of the entire team of referees, including the video technology referees, because of the blatant errors and insisting on not reviewing some of the footage that we believe are in favor of the Egyptian national team."
Meanwhile, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan expressed intense frustration after the match. Hassan said: "I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice." The Egyptian coach added that external factors may have influenced the match, suggesting the world champions received support at every level.
The formal complaint submitted to FIFA contains several clear demands. The Egyptian federation demanded the exclusion of French referee Francois Letexier and his entire officiating crew from the remainder of the World Cup 2026. They also called for an urgent investigation into the performance of the referees and video assistant officials.
The official statement accused the officiating team of double standards and clear bias against the Egyptian national team. The federation insisted the refereeing errors favored the Argentine side, directly affecting the outcome of the important knockout match. Egyptian fans can follow developments in the case and team news through the official news page.
With Egypt eliminated from World Cup 2026, the federation now focuses on improving the team's performance for future competitions. The Egyptian national team currently holds second place in their group standings with 5 points from one win and two draws in three matches. The team will now concentrate on preparations for upcoming matches, the schedule for which can be viewed on our fixtures page.
The Egyptian FA hopes their complaint will lead to a fair investigation by FIFA and help prevent similar errors in future tournaments. Egypt remains a strong regional force, having scored 5 goals in 3 World Cup 2026 matches.
