The intense round of 16 clash between the African side, Egypt, against the defending World Cup champions Argentina sent social media agog for various reasons. First, social media pundits couldn’t help but point out several controversial refereeing decisions; others spoke about how the Egyptian national team, like other African teams in the competition thus far, ended up on the losing side after taking the lead for most of the game.
As for eelive.ng, we will be explaining what the ‘X’ sign shown by the Egyptian head coach Hossam Hassan during the heat of the match.
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Backstory: How Did We Get Here?
On Tuesday night, the Round of 16 clash between five-time African champions Egypt and defending World champions Argentina kicked off impressively. Egypt took the lead in the first half through a stunning strike by Yasser Ibrahim. In the dramatic match, eight-time Ballon D’Or winner Lionel Messi would see his penalty saved by the Egyptian goalkeeper, Mostafa Shobeir.
As the match went on, Egypt would see their second goal cancelled, marking the commencement of several questionable decisions from the referee. Eventually, Argentina would come from behind to win the match 3-2, courtesy of goals from an influential Lionel Messi alongside Christian Romero and Enzo Fernandez.
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Put Up the ‘X’ if You Feel Cheated
Following the numerous questionable decisions from the referee, Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan felt he had had enough and decided to cross his hands to form an ‘X’, signalling injustice in the match. However, there has been no official confirmation from FIFA about what specific incident he was reporting or whether it related to alleged racist abuse by a player, fan, or someone else. Instead of initiating the protocol, the referee booked Hassan with a yellow card, which has become another point of controversy.
After the match, Egypt’s football federation focused its official complaints on the refereeing and VAR decisions, submitting a formal complaint to FIFA over what it considered unfair officiating. At the time of reporting, FIFA had not publicly confirmed any investigation into a racism allegation arising from the “X” gesture itself.
Following the final whistle from the referee, Egypt joined other African teams that have been eliminated from the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup competition. Read about the underwhelming performance from African teams at the World Championship below:
World Cup: Do African Players Suffer from Inferiority Complex?
What Does the ‘X’ Sign Actually Mean?
In conclusion, eelive.ng gathered that the “X” sign does not mean “match fixed” or “robbery.” It is specifically FIFA’s recognized signal for reporting suspected racist or discriminatory abuse. However, the exact reason Hassan used it in this match remains disputed and has not been officially clarified.
The signal was introduced by FIFA in 2024 as a universal way for players, coaches, and officials to report alleged racist abuse during a match. When used appropriately, it is intended to trigger FIFA’s three-step anti-discrimination protocol:
- Stop the match.
- Suspend the match if the abuse continues.
- Abandon the match if it still does not stop.
Equally, the FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition among the senior men’s national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the sport’s global governing body.
