Egypt coach red carded for trying to fight Lionel Messi following 'X' gesture at game
An assistant coach for Egypt was red-carded during a heated clash against Argentina.
The Pharaohs were involved in a heated round-of-16 match against the reigning champions, which ended in a 3-2 loss for Mohamed Salah's team after a late comeback for Argentina, with goals from Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernández.
The match has been highly controversial, with Egyptian players and head coach Hossam Hassan accusing match officials of 'rigging' the match in favour of Argentina.
Controversial moments included Hassan being handed a yellow card for making an X gesture during the match, Mostafa Ziko having a goal overturned after a VAR review, and allegations that Egypt were denied a penalty after a foul on Salah.
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Hassan wasn't the only member of Egypt's coaching staff to have been carded during the game either, as goalkeeping coach Saafan El-Sagheer was shown a red card by French referee Francois Letexier for his conduct.
A clip of the moment, which is widely circulating online, showed El-Sagheer attempting to confront Messi during a chaotic scuffle between players and coaching staff. He is then seen arguing with match officials while being physically restrained by other members of staff, before being shown a red card for his conduct.
Watch the entire scuffle, which happened in the closing moments after Enzo Fernandez scored the winning goal in extra time, below:
The goalkeeping coach was slapped with a red card just moments after coach Hassan made the X gesture, which is a way for referees, players and match officials to report racist behaviour.
It is unclear what he was referring to at that moment.
Hassan slammed the refereeing in the match after the final whistle was blown, calling Letexier 'unfair'.
"This was clearly a rigged match and the whole world saw it," he told reporters in a press conference afterwards.
"There seems to have been pressure on the Argentine side on the referee that has brought about this outcome."
His comments were echoed by winger Mostafa Ziko, who claimed that Letexier did not want to see his side win.
"His injustice was clear. He persecuted us from the start of the match. He doesn’t want us to win," he said. "It seems like this match was rigged.
"Congratulations to Argentina on another World Cup, it seems."
LADbible previously approached FIFA for comment.
World Cup 2026 fixture schedule and UK kick off times
Thursday, 9 July
Quarter-final - Match 97: France vs Morocco, kick-off 9pm - Foxborough, US
Friday, 10 July
Quarter-final - Match 98: Match 93 winners vs Match 94 winners, kick-off 8pm - Los Angeles, US
Saturday, 11 July
Quarter-final - Match 99: Norway vs England, kick-off 10pm - Miami, US
Sunday, 12 July
Quarter-final - Match 100: Match 95 winners vs Match 96 winners, kick-off 2am - Kansas City, US
Tuesday, 14 July
Semi-final - Match 101: Match 97 winners vs Match 98 winners, kick-off 8pm - Arlington, US
Wednesday, 15 July
Semi-final - Match 102: Match 99 winners vs Match 100 winners, kick-off 8pm - Atlanta, US
Saturday, 18 July
Third Place Playoff - Match 103: Match 101 losers vs Match 102 losers, kick-off 10pm - Miami, US
Sunday, 19 July
Final - Match 104: Match 101 winners vs Match 102 winners, kick-off 8pm - New Jersey, US
Topics: Lionel Messi, World Cup, Sport, Football
Brenna Cooper