Argentina Allegations of Hacking After World Cup Referee Emails

Argentina’s dramatic escape against Egypt has spilled from the pitch to the inbox.

Fresh from a wild 3-2 comeback win that kept the reigning world champions alive at the World Cup, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) says it may have fallen victim to a cyber attack, after emails sent from one of its official accounts appeared to denounce the victory as the product of “corrupt refereeing decisions”.

The messages, reportedly sent to journalists after the last-16 tie, claimed “Argentina did not win” and suggested the result hinged on the performance of French referee Francois Letexier and his team. The emails also praised Egypt’s display, a detail that immediately raised eyebrows in Buenos Aires.

For Argentina, the night had already been fraught. Trailing 2-0 and staring at a shock exit, the world champions clawed their way back with a late surge to turn the tie on its head and reach the quarter-finals. Relief on the pitch. Fury off it.

Egypt’s response was swift. The Egyptian Football Association lodged a formal complaint with Fifa, demanding Letexier and his officiating team be removed from the tournament, alleging bias in favour of Argentina. The leaked emails, on the surface, seemed to echo that anger — but from inside the AFA’s own house.

That is where the story twists.

Argentine outlet La Calle reported that the emails originated from an AFA institutional account but, citing association sources, said officials believe a group of hackers of Egyptian origin may have gained access and sent the messages without authorisation.

The AFA moved to distance itself from the content and to frame the incident as a security breach rather than an internal revolt.

“We want to inform you that we have detected the possible sending of emails from one of our institutional accounts that were not generated or authorised by our team,” the AFA said in a statement.

The governing body urged recipients to ignore anything suspicious.

It asked the public to “dismiss any message that you have recently received from our account and that is unusual, especially if it contains links, attachments or requests personal information”.

The association stressed that it is treating the incident as a potential case of unauthorised access.

“There is a possibility that our account has been subject to unauthorised access, so we are working to clarify what happened and adopt the necessary security measures,” the statement added.

On the field, Argentina are into the quarter-finals after surviving a scare that briefly threatened one of the great World Cup shocks. Off it, they now find themselves fighting a very modern battle — not over tactics or team selection, but over who is really speaking in their name at a World Cup where even an email can become a flashpoint.