Ibrahim Hassan, manager of the Egyptian national team, expressed his extreme anger at the behavior of Lionel Messi, captain of Argentina, during the two sides' match in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup.

Egypt lost to Argentina 3-2 last Tuesday evening in a match that witnessed many controversial refereeing decisions that led to the Pharaohs' defeat.

Ibrahim Hassan said in television statements: "Messi is extremely provocative. I don't know why he came to stand in our technical area while protesting the refereeing."

He added: "They came with extreme composure, taking advantage of the leniency that some of the referee's decisions gave them. It was clear they were trying to create a state of provocation and psychological pressure on the Egyptian coaching staff and players."

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He continued: "The striking thing is that members of the Argentine staff were the ones who came to our technical area, not the other way around, and the goal was clear: to provoke reactions from the Egyptian national team in those critical moments of the match."

He pointed out that the atmosphere became severely tense after this action, explaining: "The situation reached the point that Captain Saafan al-Saghir lost his composure due to the direct and deliberate provocation in front of the substitutes' bench, which led to him receiving a red card from the match referee."

He concluded his speech by saying: "What happened had no technical purpose, but was merely an attempt to provoke the Egyptian national team and distract its concentration in the final minutes of the match, and to put psychological pressure on the players and technical staff after the refereeing controversy that the match witnessed."