Didier Deschamps raised questions about the referee on Wednesday, just a day before France were set to face Morocco in the quarterfinals. The France coach said the opponent was Morocco, not the official, but he also said there are always decisions that lead to discussion and hoped Facundo Tello and his assistants would be as good as François Letexier and his crew.
The timing matters because refereeing had already become a World Cup talking point after the opening game, when three red cards were shown in Mexico’s 2-0 win over South Africa. By the time Deschamps spoke, Argentina’s 3-2 victory over Egypt had added another layer, with Egypt filing a formal complaint to FIFA over Letexier’s handling of the Round of 16 match.
Egypt’s anger centered on more than one call. The team was upset when a goal was disallowed after a VAR review, and it received six stoppage time cautions along with a red card for goalkeeper coach Saafan El-Sagheer. Hossam Hassan went further, accusing officials of racism and of favoring Lionel Messi and Argentina. Those complaints made the French coach’s comments land differently, even though he insisted the focus should stay on Morocco.
That is where the friction sits. Deschamps said there is no revenge in football and that any call can look different depending on which side you are on, but Morocco had its own reasons to watch the whistle closely. Morocco coach Mohamed Oahbi described Tello as a very experienced referee and very calm, while Morocco also remembered its 2-0 loss to France in Qatar in 2022 and believed César Ramos failed to award it a penalty there.
France and Morocco were set to meet on Thursday, and the referee assignment ensured the discussion would not stay on the sidelines for long. Tello and his assistants are Argentinian, which only sharpened the scrutiny around every decision in a tournament where the officiating has been under a microscope from the start. Deschamps can say the referee is not the opponent, but in a World Cup already shaped by complaints, the next whistle was always going to carry more weight than usual.
