Argentine Football Association hacked after Egypt round‑of‑16 World Cup match

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) confirmed it was the victim of a cyber‑attack following its 3‑2 victory over Egypt in the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup. An unauthorized email was sent from an AFA institutional account to journalists, claiming “Argentina did not win. The victory was stolen by corrupt refereeing decisions” and was signed by “Egyptian cyber warriors”.

The message criticised French referee François Letexier and praised the Egyptian team, also including political remarks about the Middle‑East. AFA said the email was not created or authorised by its communications team, urged recipients to ignore any unusual messages, and launched an investigation to determine the extent of the breach and strengthen its security.

Egyptian officials have lodged a complaint with FIFA, demanding Letexier’s removal, and the hack is being linked to a group of Egyptian hackers who accessed AFA’s email accounts, passwords and IP addresses. The incident has revived debate over the match’s refereeing decisions and highlighted vulnerabilities in sports organisations’ digital systems.