On paper, Argentina was unlikely to lose to Egypt in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Even after the narrow escape from Cape Verde, a country very few knew existed but gave Messi a run for his money, the favourite was Argentina against the Pharoah. The Egyptians possess one transcendent player – Mohamed Salah – who is a few years past his best. Still, Argentina has Lionel Messi.
But as Cape Verde reminded the Argentinians last week, World Cup matches are not won on paper. They’re won with guts, balls of steel, leadership, luck, perseverance and capitalizing on opportunities. When Egypt came ready for a fight, they were inspired by Cape Verde. The pressure was on Argentina – the defending champion seeking to keep their 2022 FIFA World Cup title.
For the overwhelming majority of the more than 68,000 fans at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Tuesday, the magical moment came when Lautaro Martínez slowed down on the right wing of Argentina’s attack, sized up the scene in front of him and hit a cross. The ball floated toward the box, over Egypt’s Yasser Ibrahim and toward the head of Enzo Fernández.
Yasser Ibrahim’s 15th-minute goal was enough to send the small pockets of Egyptian fans in the stadium go berserk – jumping and ripping off their shirts as their team went bonkers below them. A few minutes later, it seemed the soccer gods were on Egypt’s side. Lionel Messi’s penalty was saved by Mohamed Shobeir, who performed in the rest of the first half as if he had been anointed as his nation’s savior.
The Egyptian goalkeeper made save after save, building a brick wall in his net as Argentina appeared flustered. Egyptian fans in the stadium were outnumbered but felt brave enough to taunt the throngs of Argentines behind them. Then, came Mostafa Zico‘s goal in the 55th minute. As Egypt celebrated wildly, referee François Letexier went to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) screen to look at a foul that may have occurred.
Letexier waved off Zico’s goal, which would see Egypt file a complaint against the referee after the match. Egypt’s manager Hossan Hassan slams FIFA for cheating. But Zico was not done. He added Egypt’s second goal in a close-range strike on the counterattack in the 67th minute. A 2-0 lead seemed like the end of Argentina’s journey. Egypt looked set to produce a stunning upset.
Not only did Messi miss a chance to equalize in the first half when he wasted a penalty, but he also hit the post when the score was 1-0. For a moment, Argentina, who are bidding to become the first back-to-back World Cup champions since Brazil in 1958 and 1962, might be unable to escape the Pharoah’s curse after barely survived Cape Verde’s hell.
But no team with Lionel Messi in it is ever truly dead. Watching Argentina’s No. 10 is like watching a conductor working in a soccer orchestra. He picks where Argentina plays with his movement – when he walks in one direction, the play goes the other way, but when he runs, the ball comes toward him. He points out passes for his teammates, slowly moving around the pitch with the unharried attitude of an evening stroll.
At 39, Messi conserves his energy when he can for the moments he needs it most. When those moments come, he explodes. Despite beign under tremendous pressure, he kept looking for opportunities. Then the first moment of genius came. Messi lifted a ball over the Egyptian defense to Cristian Romero, who headed home 2-1 in the 79th minute. Five minutes later, Messi equalized -his 21st World Cup goal.
From the almighty scare of a shocking defeat, Argentina suddenly was back in the game. Enzo Fernandez completed the comeback two minutes into injury time, heading home Lautaro Martinez’s cross to set up a quarter-final tie against Switzerland. Argentines exploded into a realm of sporting nirvana. Strangers were hugged, margaritas went flying, and shirts came off.
When the full-time whistle blew, they roared in joy, relief and gratitude. Their worship of their heroes on the field below was enough to move Messi to tears as he and his teammates celebrated in front of that giant throng. Music played through the stadium’s sound system, but you couldn’t hear a word for the singing and screaming of the Argentines.
It was the first time in World Cup history that a team had won a knockout match in regulation time after trailing by two goals in the 75th minute. It was so stunning – and unbelievable – that some argue the game has been rigged from the beginning. “I’m so emotional,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “What a group of players, brother.”
The overwhelming joy of the moment resulted in Argentina fans hugging security guards, hugging journalists, hugging anyone who came in front of them such was their desire to simply share at the moment. Messi was thrown into the air by his teammates and Argentina celebrated as if they’d won the cup again, even though they still have to win three more to get back to the heights that they reached in Doha.
Inter Miami star Messi had gone into this last-16 game as the tournament’s joint-top scorer alongside France’s Kylian Mbappe – and the top World Cup scorer of all time with 20. He is now the first player in World Cup history to score in six consecutive knockout-stage matches, while his eight goals are the most in the opening five games of a single edition since Gerd Müller netted 10 for Germany in 1970.
Tuesday’s round-of-16 tie had been billed as a meeting between two of the game’s all-time greats – Argentina talisman Messi and Egypt hero Salah. Despite being the leading career scorer at World Cups, Messi has actually missed a record four of his eight penalty kicks at the tournament through the years. Egypt was looking for a famous upset. Instead, Argentina scored three late goals to get out of a 2-0 hole and beat Egypt.
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July 9th, 2026 by financetwitter
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