Egyptian complaint against Letexier after Argentina-Egypt: what risks does the French referee face?

The Egyptian Football Federation has officially filed a complaint with FIFA against French referee François Letexier the day after the Round of 16 match of the 2026 World Cup won by Argentina (3-2). The Pharaohs are calling for him to be removed from the rest of the competition.

Egypt is accusing Letexier of disallowing a goal for a controversial foul called early in the play, as well as several decisions perceived as favorable to Lionel Messi and his team. The frustration is all the more acute as the Egyptians were leading by two goals in the 79th minute before collapsing. In the immediate aftermath, player Mohamed Ziko claimed that “the competition was rigged,” a position echoed by coach Hossam Hassan, who argued that everything was being done to ensure Argentina would be crowned world champions again.

In practice, FIFA does not issue official sanctions against a referee following a poor performance. Letexier’s case is reminiscent of that of Uzbek referee Tantashev, heavily criticized after France-Paraguay in the same tournament: according to several refereeing experts, the latter can already go home without hope of another match.

The question of what comes next for Letexier in the tournament depends on other factors, however. FIFA traditionally applies strong rotation of its referees at the World Cup: in 2022, of the eight officiating in the Round of 16, only three were retained for the quarterfinals, semifinals or finals. Furthermore, convention dictates that from the semifinals onward, designated referees should be nationals of countries already eliminated. For Letexier, this would require France to be eliminated in the quarterfinals.