Egypt was leading 2-0 and felt a quarterfinal spot was in the bag. Hossam Hassan, their 59-year-old coach, watched the clock with victory almost served up in Atlanta.
Then everything collapsed. Cristian Romero, Messi, and Enzo Fernández scored in the final minutes to seal a 3-2 win that Argentina pulled off with heart. Messi had missed a penalty against Mostafa Shoubir, but ended up celebrating anyway.
Hassan couldn’t tolerate it. He accused referee François Letexier of favoring Argentina “for marketing” so Messi could stay in the tournament, and he even received a yellow card for a crossed-arms gesture that FIFA reserves for reporting racism. His player Mostafa Ziko went further: he said the World Cup “is rigged”. Argentina, meanwhile, is already thinking about the quarterfinals on July 11 in Kansas City. Justified fury or a sore loser’s excuse?