Argentine FA confirms cyberattack sending critical emails

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has confirmed a major cybersecurity breach after unauthorized emails criticizing match officials were sent from its official accounts to accredited journalists. The incident follows Argentina's contentious 3-2 victory over Egypt in the FIFA World Cup round of 16 on July 10, 2026, a match that has sparked formal complaints and allegations of bias.

In a statement, the AFA said it detected the possible sending of emails from an institutional account that were not generated or authorized by its team. The federation urged recipients to disregard any unusual messages, particularly those containing links or requests for personal information, and confirmed it is investigating the unauthorized access. While the AFA did not publicly attribute the attack, reports citing sources within the federation indicate the hackers are believed to be of Egyptian origin and breached part of the AFA's database, obtaining email addresses, passwords, and IP addresses.

The compromised emails claimed that "Argentina did not win" and that the result was due to "corrupt refereeing decisions," while praising Egypt's performance. These messages directly echoed the...