ATLANTA: Defending champions Argentina produced a remarkable late comeback to defeat Egypt 3-2 and secure a place in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals in Atlanta.
The Argentine side scored three unanswered goals from the 79th minute onward after falling two goals behind, marking the first time in World Cup history that a team has won a knockout match in regulation time after trailing by two goals in the 75th minute.
Lionel Messi played a decisive role in the comeback, scoring his eighth goal of the tournament—the highest tally among all players—and extending his record run of scoring in World Cup knockout matches. He first assisted Cristian Romero’s goal in the 79th minute before equalizing with a strike of his own four minutes later.
With extra time appearing inevitable, Enzo Fernández completed Argentina’s stunning turnaround by heading home in the second minute of stoppage time at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Argentina, aiming to become the first team since Brazil in 1958 and 1962 to win consecutive World Cup titles, will face either Colombia or Switzerland in the quarterfinals in Kansas City on Saturday.
Egypt had looked on course for a historic upset after Yasser Ibrahim opened the scoring in the 15th minute and Mostafa Zico doubled the lead with a close-range counterattack finish in the 67th minute.
The seven-time African champions, who had already reached the round of 16 for the first time in their history, also saw another goal ruled out after a video review.
Messi had opportunities to bring Argentina back into the match earlier but missed a first-half penalty saved by Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir and later struck the post while his team was trailing 1-0.
The miss extended Messi’s record for the most regulation-time penalty failures in World Cup history, with the Argentine captain now converting only four of eight attempts. He also became the first player to miss two penalties in a single World Cup edition after failing from the spot against Austria in the group stage.
Despite the penalty setback, Messi continued to strengthen his World Cup legacy. He has now scored in nine consecutive World Cup matches dating back to Argentina’s 2022 title-winning campaign, with Tuesday’s goal taking his total to 13 goals during that run.
His eight goals in the current tournament put him ahead of France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race. The goal also increased Messi’s advantage over Mbappé in the all-time World Cup scoring rankings.
(Inputs from AP/international media)
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