Argentina FA probes cyberattack after mass emails call Egypt loss a 'robbery'

Argentina beat Egypt 3-2 in their World Cup round-of-16 match Tuesday, with the African side unhappy with some refereeing decisions. Justin Setterfield / Getty Images

By Melanie Anzidei July 10, 2026 | Updated July 12, 2026, 10:33 am EDT

The Argentine Football Federation (AFA) has launched an investigation into whether its systems were compromised after mass emails were sent to journalists calling for “justice” for Egypt and head coach Hossam Hassan, following the dramatic World Cup round-of-16 match between the two teams on Tuesday.

At least one reporter from The Athletic received one of the hacked emails. The message, written in English, carried the subject line “SYSTEM HACKED: UNFAIR DECISION” and began with the line: “the robbery will not go unnoticed.”

The AFA confirmed Thursday that it was looking into an incident in which emails were “possibly” sent from one of its accounts that were “neither generated nor authorized by our team.”

Match Context

The match between Argentina and Egypt will be remembered as one of the most dramatic games in World Cup history. Argentina came back from a two-goal deficit by scoring three goals in the final 13 minutes of play.

However, it was Egypt’s disallowed goal in the 60th minute—canceled after a VAR review—and a potential foul in Argentina’s penalty box that ignited ongoing debate about officiating and allegations of favoritism in the competition.

The Egyptian team was left angered by several refereeing decisions. Star forward Mostafa Ziko said after the game that the trophy is “directed towards Argentina.” Egypt’s head coach also claimed his side was wrongly denied a second goal and should have been awarded a penalty in stoppage time, moments before Enzo Fernandez scored Argentina’s third goal. The coach said he will “never watch the World Cup again, because there’s no justice in this competition.”

The Hacked Email

The sentiment expressed by the Egyptian team aligns with the email sent by hackers through AFA’s accounts.

The email seen by The Athletic is signed by “All Egyptian Cyber Warriors.” It describes Argentina’s win as “stolen.” Addressing the world, the message begins:

“Security is an illusion, just like the integrity of that match.”

The message describes the game as “90 minutes of unfair refereeing” and claims Egypt’s coach was “targeted for standing with Palestine.” Hassan has repeatedly used his platform to show support for Palestine, including at this summer’s World Cup.

The email concludes:

“If there is no justice on the pitch, do not expect peace in your networks. Consider this transmission a permanent record of our protest.”

AFA Response

The AFA said in a statement that it would conduct the necessary checks with its IT department and asked those who received the messages to ignore them.

“There is a possibility that our account has been subject to unauthorized access. We are currently working to clarify the situation and implement the necessary security measures.”

The federation added that it would analyze the incident.

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