Unseen footage of Lionel Messi's encounter with Egypt coach as World Cup match turns ugly

Unseen footage the controversial incident between Lionel Messi and the Egyptian bench has shown a coach trying to fight with the Argentina star.

In what was arguably the best match of the 2026 World Cup so far, reigning champions Argentina secured a spot in the quarter-finals in a blockbuster tie with Egypt.

After heading into the match as heavy underdogs, Egypt took the lead as defender Yasser Ibrahim found the back of the net just 15 minutes into the match.

Only six minutes later, things got even worse for Argentina as Messi saw his penalty kick saved by Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir, leading to them trailing at half-time.

Egypt scored another early in the second half, only to see it chalked off by VAR, but reaffirmed their two goal lead thanks to forward Mostafa Ziko in the 67th minute.

But the reigning champions weren't to be denied as a spectacular comeback with goals from Cristian Romero, Messi and a 93rd minute winner from Enzo Fernandez securing Argentina's spot in the quarter-finals.

However, the biggest moment of the match wasn't actually the goals, as tensions boiled over in the Egypt dugout towards full-time in Atlanta, with manager Hossam Hassan seen making a controversial 'X' gesture.

And now, a new angle of the incident shows another member of Egypt's coaching staff being held back by his colleagues as he appears to approach Messi looking for a fight.

The footage, shared on Reddit, shows Messi speaking with the Egypt bench before being ushered away by teammates Lisandro Martinez and Leandro Paredes.

But that didn't stop Egypt's goalkeeping coach, Saafan El-Sagheer, from continuing his argument with the Argentina captain as he followed Messi onto the pitch clearly shouting and trying to grab his attention.

Eventually, other members of the coaching staff and even some of Egypt's benched players grabbed their colleague and dragged him off the pitch.

But that didn't stop match referee Francois Letexier from showing him a red card for his angry display.

What did Egypt manager's Hossam Hassan 'X' gesture mean?

Alongside El-Sagheer, Hassan was also cautioned by the referee for his behaviour in the final moments of the match.

During his arguments with official, Hassan was seen making the 'X' gesture towards the official.

Typically, the gesture is used for reporting instances of alleged racist abuse, though it is unclear whether this was Hassan's intention.

Instead, Hassan could have been making the gesture for the same reasons as then Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho during an incident in 2010 when he was seen making a similar 'X' gesture.

Mourinho's actions were deemed to be an 'offensive expression' towards a match official as it depicted a pair of handcuffs, and he was given a three-match ban.

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Following Hassan's gesture, an Egypt substitute intervened, before his brother and coach Ibrahim walked across to put Hassan's hands back by his sides.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Hassan asked reporters: "Why isn't there any fairness in sport? In football?

"I do not want to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording. We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice."

He claimed that Egypt had objected to the selection of Frenchman Letexier as referee, stating that he he will not watch another match at the World Cup in protest.

"It is my own way of speaking up and standing up," he said. "I am not going to watch a single match of this tournament."