One week after Egypt’s exit from the FIFA World Cup 2026, manager Hossam Hassan has broken his silence regarding his touchline confrontation with Lionel Messi. The heated incident took place during the fiery final moments of Egypt’s narrow 3-2 Round of 16 defeat against Argentina at the Atlanta Stadium. Speaking out on the drama, Hassan completely clarified the meaning behind his controversial crossed-arms ‘X’ gesture and opened up about what the Argentine captain said to him during the match.
The crossed-arms signal caused confusion and speculation because it is technically an official FIFA protocol. Introduced globally by FIFA in May 2024, crossing the forearms or wrists is the universally recognized signal for players, coaches, and match officials to report active racist abuse or discriminatory behavior from the stands or the pitch. Once a participant makes this gesture, the referee is authorized to activate FIFA’s three-step anti-racism protocol, which can lead to halting, suspending, or completely abandoning a match. Because television cameras caught Hassan flashing this exact signal in the 98th minute during a heated argument, commentators suspected that an incident of racial abuse had taken place on the touchline.
What did Hossam Hassan say about the Messi clash?
During the closing stages of the match, the Egyptian bench grew frustrated with referee Francois Letexier after a potential second goal by Mostafa Ziko was disallowed by VAR, alongside late penalty appeals being waved away. Hassan reacted by flashing an ‘X’ gesture toward the officials, which sparked a direct confrontation with Messi.
As quoted by The Sun, Hassan cleared the air regarding the incident: “The gesture wasn’t about racism. I was telling the referee, ‘You’re not being fair.’ Messi came up to me and kept asking, ‘Why? Why?’ I don’t know what else he said.
“It was one of the few times I’ve seen Messi get into an argument during a match. He ended up crying because he was struggling emotionally.”
We made life very difficult for Argentina. I chose not to respond to him out of respect for everything he has achieved in his career.”
How did the match unfold between Argentina and Egypt?
The Round of 16 clash produced one of the most thrilling matches of the tournament. Egypt caught the reigning world champions completely off guard, racing into a shock lead. Yasser Ibrahim opened the scoring in the 15th minute. While Mostafa Shobeir sensationally saved a Lionel Messi penalty in the first half, Mostafa Ziko doubled the Pharaohs’ lead to 2-0 in the 67th minute.
However, Argentina launched a late fightback. Cristian Romero pulled one back in the 79th minute, before Messi made amends with a brilliant equalizer in the 83rd minute. Deep into stoppage time, Enzo Fernandez scored a 92nd-minute winner to seal a 3-2 victory for the Albiceleste.
The World Cup campaigns of both nations
Egypt’s World Cup journey concluded with heartbreak after pushing the tournament favorites to the absolute limit. The Pharaohs enjoyed a historic run, overcoming Australia on penalties in the Round of 32 before bowing out to the South American giants.
Meanwhile, the comeback victory catapulted Argentina into the quarterfinals, keeping Lionel Messi’s dream of defending the world title alive as they advanced to defeat Switzerland and England in the semifinals. Now, Argentina will meet Spain in the FIFA World Cup 2026 final.
