Credit: Buda Mendes/Getty Images

(CNN) -- Social media accounts claimed that images appeared of Moroccan national team stars mimicking what Egypt coach Hossam Hassan did during his country's match against Argentina in the World Cup on Tuesday evening.

In the final minutes of the controversial match, Hossam Hassan formed his arms in a crossed position similar to an X sign, a gesture referring to FIFA's protocol that allows a team's coach or players to use the signal to indicate a racist incident requiring referee intervention.

The circulating images went viral after combining Hossam Hassan with the stars of the 'Atlas Lions,' as well as coach Mohamed Wahbi, Achraf Hakimi, and Yassine Bounou.

Screenshot of a post on X platform containing the circulating images

The images were accompanied by misleading descriptions stating: 'In solidarity with the Egyptian national team after the blatant and overt refereeing injustice from the French referee and VAR technology,' and 'No to racism... A message of support from the Atlas Lions to the Egyptian national team, in a scene that garnered widespread praise from Arab audiences, confirming that what happened on the field with Egypt did not go unnoticed by everyone.'

CNN Arabic's fact-check revealed that the images of the Moroccan national team stars are not recent and are not related to the events of the Egypt-Argentina match.

Reverse image search showed that the images were first published on June 6 last year, during what appears to be a photo session for the Moroccan national team.

There are many posts displaying the same images of the Moroccan national team leaders from that date.

View this post on Instagram

Meanwhile, these images were brought back and combined with a picture of the Egypt coach to gain widespread traction.

The circulation of the images coincided with intense discussion about 'refereeing errors' during the match, which Argentina won 3-2 against Egypt on Tuesday in the World Cup round of 16.