Egypt coach Hossam Hassan emerged from one of the World Cup’s wildest games furious with the refereeing, convinced his side had been denied a famous result and openly suggesting that the defending champion had been carried by favourable treatment.

Egypt, he said, had gone toe-to-toe with the world champion despite being assembled from far humbler means.

“We were challenging the most expensive players, and we were better in everything than the defending champion,” Hassan said, before accusing Argentina of needing “pressure from one side on the referee” to secure the result.

Egypt had complained about the appointment of the referee beforehand, he revealed, and by full-time he was in no mood to hide his anger.

He insisted Egypt should have had a penalty and was equally adamant that what would have been Egypt’s second goal should not have been ruled out. “We deserved to earn this win, but we are leaving with pride because there was no fair play, no respect,” he said.

“There was no fair play in this match and I’m not happy with it. We have suffered injustice. FIFA raises the slogan ‘Fair Play’, but we don’t see it on the field… were it not for the errors, the result would have been different.”

The frustration was not reserved only for the officials. Hassan also tore into FIFA over the noon kick-off in Atlanta, arguing that the scheduling had disrespected the basic physical demands of the sport. “You don’t play at 12 at that time,” he said. “When will the players eat if they play at 12? Those who are doing this schedule don’t know football.”

Yet, amid the rage there was also a note of pride. Hassan said he had told his players he was grateful for their effort and that Egypt would “continue to mature and evolve”. He widened that pride beyond his own dressing room too, saying he was proud of “the Arab world” and of Africa.

The Egyptian coach confronted referee Francois Letexier after the game. “What I told the referee was ‘this is unfair. I said maybe he is carrying a scar or has something to hide. If somebody is trying to hide something, they often fail to hide it,” Hassan said about the incident.

“Anyway, when I am finished, I am not going to watch another game of this tournament”.

Both Argentina and Egypt needed 120 draining minutes to survive their opening knockout ties and had barely four days to recover before meeting for a place in the World Cup quarterfinals.

For Argentina, that short turnaround has come with a little more anxiety after Lionel Scaloni’s side, so smooth through the group stage, came within minutes of a seismic upset before edging Cabo Verde 3-2 after extra-time. Egypt, meanwhile, is here after beating Australia 4-2 (1-1 after extra-time) on penalties.

Scaloni did not hide his frustration with the scheduling after the win in Miami. “Now to rest. I don’t know how the World Cup is made but we had six days, and now we have three and a half. When you need the rest the most, you have the least.”

The holders looked vulnerable for the first time against Cabo Verde, unable to control the game as they had in the group stage and was repeatedly exposed in transition, even though Lionel Messi still found time to score his 20th World Cup goal.

The Latin American team’s discomfort with physicality will encourage Hossam Hassan’s Egypt, which has been built on defensive discipline and quick breaks through Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush.

“We aren’t focusing on Messi,” assistant coach Ibrahim Hassan said. “They might have Messi, but we have Mohamed Salah, and we have 26 Messis of our own.”

The tactical contrast is clear. Argentina will try to reassert midfield control and might bring in Leandro Paredes to bolster the inner channels and support Enzo Fernandez and Alexis Mac Allister.

Egypt will sit in a compact block and wait for moments to release Salah and Marmoush into the spaces, following the blueprint Cabo Verde found. Ahmed El Fotouh, Karim Hafez and Mohamed Abdelmonem are racing against time to recover from knocks, while Argentina might bring back Nicolas Tagliafico to the left side of the defence ahead of Facundo Medina.

Scaloni is expected to keep faith with the same core, but after 120 exhausting minutes, Atlanta may reveal whether Friday was merely a stumble or the first real crack in the champions’ defence.

Match starts at 9.30 p.m. IST