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Egypt coach Hossam Hassan claimed his team's 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup round of 16 was unjust, saying "marketing support" helped keep the defending champions and Lionel Messi in the tournament.
Argentina came back from two goals down and sealed the win with a stoppage-time goal from Enzo Fernandez, sending the reigning champions into the quarterfinals.
Speaking after the match, Hassan criticized French referee Francois Letexier and said Egypt had not been treated fairly during the game.
"We suffered an unjust defeat," Hassan said, adding that Argentina received support from every direction for marketing reasons. He said there was a desire to keep the previous world champions in the tournament and to keep Messi involved.
Hassan also said Egypt had outplayed Argentina for much of the match, but claimed that factors both on and off the pitch shaped the final result.
Egypt forward Mostafa Zico also spoke out against the officiating after the loss, saying the referee had been unfair from the beginning of the match.
"The referee was unfair and wasted the efforts of an entire nation," Zico said. "From the beginning of the match, he was against us. The tournament is already directed."
Zico also apologized to Egyptian fans, saying the players had hoped to bring joy to the country before their World Cup run ended in the round of 16.
The final 15 minutes brought the match's emotions to a peak, as several challenges by Argentina went unpunished, according to Egypt, while Mostafa Ziko's goal was ruled out after a VAR review. Egypt also received four yellow cards during the tense closing spell, including one shown to coach Hossam Hassan.
Amid the late on-field tension, Hassan crossed his arms in an "X," a gesture used to report racist abuse and trigger FIFA's anti-racism protocol.
Under that procedure, the referee is expected to stop the match and address the incident, but play continued until the final whistle, while social media users later voiced support for Egypt and praised the Pharaohs for their historic World Cup run.
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