Who is Francois Letexier? French referee at FIFA World Cup 2026 grabs headlines over Argentina vs Egypt controversy

Francois Letexier has been the centre of the Argentina vs Egypt controversy during the penultimate FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 clash two nights ago. Although Argentina rallied from behind to score three goals in the final 13 minutes to enter the quarterfinals, Letexier reputation as one of the reputed European officials took a major hit.

A legal professional besides referring, the Frenchman failed to maintain a balance during the high-voltage match which has Mohammed Salah facing Lionel Messi facing each other for the first time in international football. In fact, Egypt Football Association (EFA) has already filed a complaint against Letexier to FIFA after their 2026 World Cup exit.

"Hany Aburida, president of the Egyptian Football Federation, filed a complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into the French referee Francois Letexier... after the serious refereeing mistakes committed by the team of referees and double standards," said a statement from EFA.

"Aburida demanded the investigation of the entire team of referees, including the video technology referees, because of the blatant errors and insisting on not reviewing some of the footage that we believe are in favour of the Egyptian national team, and we see in it the Pharaohs' right to a correct goal and a penalty," added the EFA statement further.

It added the president had also "demanded the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes and proving the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team".

What were Francois Letexier's mistakes?

The first big call was when Egypt captain Mohamed Salah was clipped by Leandro Paredes at the edge of the Argentina box. Instead of calling it a foul, Letexier allowed the play to continue - an incident that later became a part of Egypt's complaint.

The major controversy came in the 58th minute. On a counter-attack by Mostafa Zico, which also involved Salah and Haissem Hassan, Egypt went ahead 2-0. But the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervened and asked Letexier to review an earlier incident during that very counter-attack.

Upon checking, it came out that Marwan Attia had pulled Lisandro Martinez’s shirt and also stepped on his foot during the buildup. Letexier cancelled the goal. Technically, the VAR has the authority to review an attacking team offence during the attacking phase of play before a goal.

However, the problem for Egypt was the depth of the review. Attia's foul on Martinez occurred more than 30 seconds before Hassan slotted the ball in reportedly. It created a feeling that the VAR dived deep to find a reason to cancel Egypt's goal. But it was not all.

The inconsistencies by Letexier became stronger late in the game. Alexis Mac Allister looked to have tugged Hamdy Fathy inside the box as Egypt appealed for a penalty. But Letexier didn't give it. A few moments later, Enzo Fernandez scored the winner in the stoppage time.

That made Egypt dugout furious, especially the head coach. At a time when VAR dug deep to disallow Zico's first goal, it should have intervened with same intensity on the foul at the last minute. Egypt believed there was a foul in the build-up to Fernandez’s decisive goal.

Letexier ignited the fire more when he showed yellow cards to Mostafa Shobeir, Fathy, Attia and coach Hossam Hassan.

All you need to know about Francois Letexier

Letexier was born in Bédée, France on April 23, 1989. He started off his career professionally in Ligue 1 in 2016 and graduated to the list of FIFA's international referees in 2017. He made his first international debut in 2018 and has been a regular face since then for UEFA's elite competitions.

He grew in stature through hi appointments in major European fixtures, including the 2023 UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Champions League knockout games and 2024 Euro final between Spain and England.

Letexier became the youngest referee to officiate in men's European Championship final at 35. Besides, Letexier has also officiated at the Olympics, FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Europa League final.

Get all updates from FIFA World Cup 2026 here, along with FIFA World Cup 2026 Complete Schedule and FIFA World Cup 2026 Points Table.