French coach: I hope the referee for the Morocco match is like the one in the Egypt-Argentina game - Sarmad

Didier Deschamps, the head coach of the French national team, praised the performance of his compatriot Francois Letexier, the referee of the Egypt-Argentina match at the 2026 World Cup, ahead of France’s quarterfinal clash with Morocco.

Morocco will face France tomorrow, Thursday, at Gillette Stadium in Boston, USA, in the opening quarterfinal match of the World Cup.

Earlier, FIFA had announced the appointment of Argentine referee Facundo Tello to officiate the match, while French referee Francois Letexier had refereed the Egypt-Argentina game.

The decision sparked significant outrage in both France and Argentina, particularly given the intense rivalry between the two national teams, especially since their historic encounter in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, which the “Tango Dancers” won via penalty shootout.

Deschamps commented on the matter during a press conference ahead of the Morocco match, as reported by French radio station Radio Monte Carlo, stating: “My opponent is Morocco, not the referee.”

He added: “I hope that the referee (Facundo Tello) is of the same quality as Mr. Letexier and his assistants in the other match (between Egypt and Argentina).”

Letexier had already stirred controversy after the Egypt-Argentina match in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, which ended with a 3-2 victory for the “Tango Dancers” after they had trailed by a two-goal deficit.

Hossam Hassan, the head coach of the Egyptian national team, expressed his anger at the French referee’s decisions, accusing FIFA of attempting to keep Argentina in the tournament through refereeing errors for marketing reasons.