Hossam Hassan has made a shocking accusation about Lionel Messi following Egypt’s dramatic World Cup exit against Argentina on Tuesday night. The Pharaohs were two goals to the good with just 11 minutes of normal time remaining, but a stunning 14-minute turnaround from the holders saw Cristian Romero, Messi and Enzo Fernandez turn the game on its head and complete an incredible remontada in Atlanta.

For neutrals, it was football at its very best – a reminder that the game can be a cruel mistress, delivering ecstasy and agony in equal measure as Lionel Scaloni’s side kept alive their hopes of back-to-back World Cup titles. But since the final whistle, the result has opened a can of worms.

A VAR expert has claimed Mohamed Salah should have been awarded a penalty in the build-up to the 93rd-minute winner, while Egypt’s coaching staff have had plenty to say about FIFA’s handling of this year’s tournament.

After the match, striker Mostafa Ziko also vented his frustrations over several refereeing decisions, going as far as to suggest the World Cup has been ‘rigged’ in Argentina’s favour. While he stopped short of targeting Messi directly, his manager was not prepared to pull any punches, refusing to leave football’s golden boy out of the firing line as he reflected on Tuesday night’s heartbreaking defeat.

Egypt Manager Takes Brutal Swipe at FIFA’s Treatment of Lionel Messi

Speaking at a press conference after the match, Hassan was furious about his team’s defeat, which he claimed was deliberate. He told media, as per Gulf Today (watch his untranslated interview below):

He added: “I will boycott watching the remaining matches of the tournament as a form of protest. I told the players that I thank them and that they can face the biggest teams in the world, provided there is fairness. FIFA promotes fair play, but we don’t see it on the pitch.”

“I’m not convinced with this outcome. I’m not convinced with the way things unfolded during this match. I do not want ‌to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording, selective wording, and saying hard luck, and so on and so forth. We ⁠have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice.”

Hassan Addresses Altercation with Referee that Produced Late Yellow Card

Paul Childs via Reuters

Hassan also said Egypt had objected to Letexier being the referee, referring to his “background,” as he is French, despite it likely being that he would rather his nation face the African side than their superiors from the 2022 final.

Nine minutes into extra time, Hassan was issued a yellow card after objecting to the lack of a VAR review. “I was just saying this is unfair. I was saying maybe he’s carrying a scar,” Hassan said of their interaction. “Maybe he has something to hide. Whoever has something to hide sometimes fails to hide what he is hiding.”

Argentina will now face the winner of Switzerland vs Colombia in the quarter-finals of this summer’s World Cup. After that, should they continue their title defence, they will face either Norway or England, and then one of France, Morocco, Belgium or Spain in the final.

Manchester United are planning a £51 million bid to sign a new midfielder who starred at the World Cup.

The World Cup is an opportunity for clubs to assess whether the players are capable of performing on the biggest stage.

That can also come with players seeing their price tags drastically increase, with selling clubs knowing they are announcing themselves on the world stage.

It can be risky business for clubs to sign players based on World Cup performances, but it is a real opportunity to see talent from around the globe.

United will have multiple scouts at the tournament, and they are specifically looking to bring in midfielders in the summer transfer window.

Man Utd eyeing World Cup midfielder

According to a report from United in Focus, Manchester United are now planning a bid in the region of £51 million for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Felix Nmecha in the summer transfer window.

United are looking to bring in a physical presence in the middle of the park, and Nmecha is viewed as a player who could help their rebuild in midfield.

United do face competition from Chelsea for the signature of the German international, but the Red Devils’ interest is believed to be the most advanced.

It remains to be seen whether the offer of £51 million will be enough to tempt Dortmund into accepting an offer.

Nmecha, who has been described as being ‘one of the best midfielders in the world’, is just one of many midfielders who United have been linked with in the summer transfer window as they look to find a replacement for Casemiro.

Nmecha well known at United

via Reuters

Nmecha, who is believed to be open to moving to the Premier League, is someone who is well known by some of the hierarchy at Old Trafford.

Manchester United director Jason Wilcox worked with Nmecha when they were both at Manchester City’s Academy. The German midfielder made three competitive appearances for United’s rivals before leaving the club to join Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.

Whether Wilcox can have an influence on Nmecha making the move to United remains to be seen, but it’s no surprise that United are interested.

Nmecha moved to Manchester as a child and spent 14 years with the Citizens, so he’s no stranger to living in the North West of England.

Egypt’s World Cup journey has come to an end following a mighty comeback against Argentina. Lionel Messi was once again at the centre of attention, assisting and scoring a goal in the 3-2 win despite missing a penalty.

Egypt did take the lead and even extended it to 2-0, but they couldn’t hold on as Argentina launched a comeback with just over 10 minutes left to go.

The game was filled with plenty of controversy, however, as Egypt had a goal disallowed in the 60th minute, with Lisandro Martínez deemed to have fouled at the complete opposite end of the pitch. Despite this being ruled out, Argentina’s winning goal was allowed to stand even though a similar situation had happened down the other end of the pitch.

Ziko Slams Referee Performance

The game looked set to be going Egypt’s way, and they could’ve been 3-0 up if it wasn’t for a goal being perhaps unfairly ruled out. After the game, striker Mostafa Ziko vented his frustrations about some of the refereeing decisions in the game, arguing that the World Cup has been ‘rigged’ to favour Argentina.

Ziko said: “Congratulations to Argentina on the World Cup; the tournament was rigged, they didn’t need anything else. The referee was unfair. At no point did we think the match was already decided. We knew we were facing the reigning world champions.

“Even before the game started, we knew we would be facing a very strong team and one of the favourites for the title.

“But if they had won solely on their own merits, it would have been very different for us.”

“God is sufficient for me and the best disposer of affairs. He is wasting the effort of an entire nation. The cup is being given to Argentina,” he added.

Ziko scored once during the game, and he was also the scorer of the unfairly ruled-out goal. A win for Egypt would have seen them progress to the quarter-finals of the competition, which would’ve been the furthest they have ever gone in the nation’s history.

Argentina Sneak Through

Action images via Reuters

The win for Argentina means that they are through to the quarter-finals of the competition, and they will play whoever wins the round of 16 tie between Switzerland and Colombia. Having only just beaten Cape Verde in the previous round, they would’ve hoped for a smoother game against Egypt, but once again they had a poor display, which saw them trail for the majority of the game.

Messi looked to have let his side down once again, as he missed a penalty in the first half, but you cannot doubt one of the greatest of all time, as he went on to provide an assist for Cristian Romero whilst also scoring a goal of his own to aid the comeback.

As much as a fairytale comeback it was, Argentina will be worried about their performances, especially as the tournament reaches its latter stages and the quality of teams gets better, and for them, it could be a semi-final tie against Norway or England awaiting them.