Lionel Messi produced another moment of World Cup magic on Tuesday, inspiring a stunning late comeback as defending champions Argentina beat Egypt 3-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Egypt, appearing in the knockout rounds of the World Cup for the first time in the nation’s history, looked set to pull off one of the tournament’s biggest upsets after taking a 2-0 lead with barely 20 minutes remaining. Yasser Ibrahim opened the scoring in the 15th minute, and Mostafa Zico doubled Egypt’s advantage on the counterattack in the 67th minute, sending the record seven-time African champions to the brink of a historic victory over the tournament favorites.
But Messi, who has now scored in a record nine consecutive World Cup matches dating back to Argentina’s 2022 title run, refused to let his team’s World Cup campaign end in Atlanta. In the 79th minute, he set up Cristian Romero to pull one back, then four minutes later thrashed home an equalizer himself to level the score at 2-2 and send the crowd into a frenzy.
With extra time looming, Enzo Fernández headed in a dramatic winner in the second minute of stoppage time, completing Argentina’s turnaround and sparking wild celebrations among the Argentine substitutes and staff along the touchline. The goal ensured Argentina’s title defense remains alive and set up a quarterfinal meeting in Kansas City on Saturday against either Colombia or Switzerland.
It was far from a straightforward night for Messi individually. He missed a first-half penalty that was saved by Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir and also struck the post while the score was still level at 1-0. The miss extended his unwanted World Cup record of failed penalties, with Messi now having missed four of his eight attempts from the spot across his career at football’s biggest tournament, including another miss earlier in this edition against Austria in the group stage. He is the first player in World Cup history to miss two penalties in a single edition.
Still, his second-half equalizer proved decisive to Argentina’s hopes of going further in the tournament. It was his 13th goal in his nine-match scoring streak at the World Cup and his eighth of this tournament, moving him one clear of France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot. The goal also extended his lead over Mbappé on the all-time World Cup scoring list.
Argentina, chasing a second consecutive World Cup crown and looking to match Brazil’s back-to-back triumphs of 1958 and 1962, needed every bit of Messi’s brilliance to survive an Egyptian side that had already made history simply by reaching the round of 16. Egypt also had an earlier goal ruled out following a video review during the match, a decision that will likely draw scrutiny in the days ahead.
For Egypt, the exit ends a remarkable World Cup run built on defensive resilience and moments of individual quality, but the team will return home with its head held high after outplaying the champions for long stretches inside a raucous Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The side had already rewritten the nation’s football history by reaching the last 16, and Tuesday’s near-upset of the reigning champions is likely to be remembered as one of the standout performances of this World Cup, even in defeat.
For Argentina, the win is another chapter in Messi’s extraordinary World Cup legacy, as he continues to carry his country deep into the tournament in what may be one of his final appearances on the World Cup stage. Coach Lionel Scaloni’s side showed the resilience that has defined their title defense, recovering from a two-goal deficit for the first time at this World Cup to keep their dream of back-to-back championships firmly on track heading into the quarterfinals.
