Hossam Hassan, the coach of the Egyptian national team, is now facing a disciplinary penalty from the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), following an incident during the Round of 16 match against Argentina in the 2026 World Cup. The incident included a brief altercation with Argentine captain Lionel Messi and a gesture that sparked widespread controversy on the touchline.

British newspaper The Sun reported on Wednesday that Hossam Hassan may be subject to an investigation by FIFA after he made a gesture crossing his arms in the shape of an 'X' during the match, following a verbal exchange with Messi, who said to him, 'What's your problem?'

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The report added that this gesture is commonly used to report incidents of racism, but the motives behind its use at that moment remain unclear, which may prompt FIFA's disciplinary committee to review the incident before making any decision.

The Sun's report contradicts media statements made by Ibrahim Hassan, the director of the Egyptian national team and brother of the head coach.

Ibrahim Hassan said on MBC Misr channel earlier today: 'There are instructions from FIFA placed in the dressing rooms that this gesture is used when you want to express that you have been wronged.'

He added: 'The referee did not know how to deal with Hossam: whether to follow FIFA's instructions, especially since this gesture is allowed, or to show the resentment inside him and send him off.'

These developments come in the wake of the wave of anger that swept the Egyptian national team delegation after the dramatic 3-2 loss to Argentina, a match that witnessed many controversial refereeing decisions.

Hossam Hassan had strongly criticized the refereeing after the match, insisting that his team suffered 'clear injustice,' before making fiery statements saying: 'If they wanted to crown Argentina as world champions, why did they invite the rest of the teams to participate?'

In the same context, the Egyptian Football Association submitted an official protest to FIFA, demanding an investigation into the refereeing decisions in the match, as well as the exclusion of French referee Francois Letexier and his entire crew from officiating the remainder of the tournament.

The Egyptian Association confirmed that a number of influential decisions, particularly the failure to review some incidents using the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, raised widespread doubts about the fairness of the officiating, considering that these errors had a direct impact on the match result and led to anger among players, the technical staff, and fans.

The match witnessed great controversy after a goal by Egypt was disallowed due to a foul at the start of the attack, before Argentina scored the winning goal in stoppage time, amid Egyptian demands for two penalty kicks in the attack that directly preceded the goal, which further escalated the crisis that continues to cast a shadow over the tournament.