Did Egypt pay the price for speaking up? VAR, Palestine and a coach who says World Cup rigged for Messi

Last Updated on 7 July 2026

Before Tuesday’s game had even kicked off, Hossam Hassan had already made enemies in powerful rooms. The Egypt coach had held up a Palestinian flag after his side’s win over Australia.

He had delivered a four-minute speech at a pre-match press conference condemning the death toll in Gaza, saying: “If there is anyone in the world who does not feel for the Palestinian people, then they are not human, whether they are Arab, European, or American.”

Journalists applauded him. Somewhere, somebody took note. Whether what followed in Atlanta was coincidence or something darker is impossible to prove. But Egypt do not believe it was coincidence at all and they believe they paid the price at the World Cup.

Egypt suffered by contentious decisions: Argentina go through

Egypt led Argentina 2-0 with less than 15 minutes remaining, Mostafa Shoubir had even saved Messi’s penalty, and were minutes from one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history. Then VAR struck.

Ziko’s goal, which sent Egypt delirious in Atlanta, was disallowed after VAR ruled a foul in the build-up: an incident that occurred 20 seconds before the goal was scored. Journalists and fans around the world could not believe that it had been ruled out.

Meanwhile, replays clearly showed Alexis Mac Allister pull back an Egypt attacker in the penalty area moments before Argentina’s comeback goal, a potential penalty that VAR did not check. Hassan held nothing back afterwards.

“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running. The world champion received support at every level,” he said, as per Sky Sports. “We have all seen the shirt pulled back and not even a VAR check.”

Hassan continued, “Life is unfair, normal life is unfair, so why is there no fairness in sports?” He confronted referee Francois Letexier directly and accused him of “having something to hide.” Zico, Egypt’s heartbroken striker, simply said: “Strange things happened on the pitch.”

Is it the price of speaking the truth? FIFA’s pattern that keeps repeating

The question nobody in official channels will answer is whether Egypt’s treatment at this tournament had anything to do with their manager using its platform to speak about Palestine. It is not provable. It is also not dismissible. Especially after the Balogun affair.

Egypt were shown yellow card after yellow card in the second half as Argentina pushed for their comeback. Shoubir booked. Fathy booked. Attia booked. It was a pattern that left the Egyptian bench incredulous. Hassan himself was booked for protesting.

The African nations that have been most vocal about Palestine at this tournament: Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, have collectively faced the most contentious officiating decisions of the knockout rounds. That may be coincidence. It does not feel like one.

Argentina are through. Messi has eight goals. The tournament machine rolls on. And in Atlanta, a team that led 2-0 with 13 minutes to play walked off having been told by VAR, by the referee, by the scoreline, that none of it was enough. Hassan said he won’t watch the World Cup. Nobody should blame him.