Argentina Football Federation Investigates Cyber Attack

Argentina’s football federation says it may have fallen victim to a cyber attack after explosive emails, apparently sent from its official accounts, slammed the refereeing in the world champions’ dramatic World Cup win over Egypt.

The messages, circulated to journalists in the wake of Argentina’s wild 3-2 comeback in the last 16, reportedly claimed “Argentina did not win” and accused officials of “corrupt refereeing decisions” – a stunning stance for any governing body to take about its own team’s victory.

Chaos after a classic

On the pitch, Argentina had flirted with disaster. Trailing 2-0 to Egypt and staring at a shock exit, the holders somehow clawed their way back, turning a desperate situation into a quarter-final berth with a late surge that felt like a champion’s escape act.

Off it, the fallout grew just as heated.

The Egyptian Football Association formally complained to Fifa after the defeat, demanding that French referee Francois Letexier and his entire officiating team be removed from the tournament. Egypt alleged bias in favour of Argentina, sharpening the focus on every major decision from a match already dripping with drama.

Then came the emails.

Emails, accusations and a hacking claim

Argentine outlet La Calle reported that messages sent from an official Argentine Football Association (AFA) account to members of the media echoed Egypt’s fury. The emails, the report said, insisted Argentina’s win was not legitimate and credited the result to corrupt officiating, while also praising Egypt’s performance.

According to La Calle, AFA sources suggested a group of hackers of Egyptian origin may have been behind the messages, hijacking the federation’s institutional account to inflame an already tense situation.

AFA quickly moved to distance itself from the content and raised the alarm about a potential breach.

“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 federation said in a statement.

The message urged recipients to ignore anything suspicious: “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.”

AFA added that “there is a possibility that our account has been subject to unauthorised access,” confirming it is working to clarify what happened and to reinforce its security.

A World Cup epic decided on the grass, and now argued over in inboxes. The result stands, Argentina march on, but the referees and the email trail will follow them into the next round.