Furious Hossam Hassan blasts 'unfair' refereeing after Argentina's dramatic 3-2 World Cup comeback

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan launched a furious attack on the officiating after his side were knocked out of the World Cup in a chaotic 3-2 defeat to defending champions Argentina, claiming the tournament is being "directed towards" the Argentines. Argentina struck three times in a blistering 13-minute spell to overturn a 2-0 deficit and avoid a stunning early exit, setting up a quarterfinal clash with Colombia or Switzerland early Sunday morning (2am UK/IRE). But the late flurry was overshadowed by controversy. Hassan insisted his team should have been awarded a penalty moments before Julián Álvarez initiated the counter-attack that led to Enzo Fernández's 92nd-minute winner. The Egypt boss pointed to an incident where Álvarez challenged Mohamed Salah inside the area – catching the forward's foot – without a VAR review. He also highlighted a separate moment when Alexis Mac Allister pulled down Hamdi Fathy inside the box, with play waved on. Earlier, Egypt had a goal by Zico disallowed after a VAR check ruled that Lisandro Martínez had been fouled in the buildup, with the score still 1-0. "Life is unfair. The world is unfair. But why isn't there any fairness in sports?" Hassan said in his post-match press conference. "The referee is unfair. God is sufficient for me and the best disposer of affairs. He's wasting the effort of an entire nation. The cup is directed towards Argentina. We haven't seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out and a second incident that should have been checked for a penalty was not even looked at by VAR. A second goal was remarkably disallowed." Hassan claimed there appeared to be pressure on the referee from the Argentine side that influenced the outcome. News has approached FIFA for comment. Zico, who scored Egypt's second goal but had another ruled out, was visibly emotional after the final whistle. Asked if his tears were for the defeat or the decisions, he said: "Both. We were hard done by today, and everyone saw that. I won't talk about something like this. We were winning 2-0. After the 2-0, everything went against us. I don't even know why the second goal was disallowed. I don't see any reason for it. The refereeing was obvious in front of everyone. The penalty was turned against us into a counterattack goal. Thank God for everything."