Argentina looked headed for the biggest upset of the World Cup for more than an hour on Tuesday in Atlanta. Then Lionel Messi and a run of second-half substitutions turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win, sending the defending champions past Egypt and into a quarterfinal against Switzerland.
Egypt Builds a Lead, and a Missed Penalty
Yasser Ibrahim headed Egypt in front in the 15th minute, rising above Argentina’s back line to beat goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. Six minutes later Argentina had a chance to level immediately from the penalty spot, but Messi’s low effort was pushed away by Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir, who guessed correctly and got enough on the ball to keep it out. Shobeir kept Egypt’s lead intact with further first-half saves off Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez, denying Argentina an immediate response.
Egypt doubled its advantage in the 67th minute when Mostafa Zico finished from close range, and for a stretch it looked like Shobeir might single-handedly carry the Pharaohs to a place among the tournament’s great upsets.
Three Goals in Twelve Minutes
Argentina’s rescue act started in the 79th minute, when Cristian Romero rose to head in a Messi cross and cut the deficit to one. Four minutes later Messi got his own goal, breaking through Egypt’s exhausted defense to make it 2-2 and send the Argentine bench into a frenzy. The winner came in the second minute of stoppage time, when Enzo Fernandez headed home to complete the turnaround and leave Egypt with nothing to show for a performance that had them on the brink of the biggest result in the country’s football history.
For Messi personally, the day was a mix of frustration and redemption. The missed penalty was his second of the tournament, after also missing one against Austria in the group stage, but it barely slowed him down. Scoring the equalizer just over an hour later was the kind of answer that has defined his last several World Cups.
A Historic Run Ends in Heartbreak for Egypt
Egypt had never won a World Cup knockout match in program history before this tournament. That changed only four days earlier, when the Pharaohs beat Australia on penalties in the Round of 32 for their first knockout victory ever. Tuesday’s near-miss against Argentina came right on the heels of that breakthrough, which makes the closeness of the result, and Shobeir’s performance in particular, feel less like a fluke and more like a marker for where the program is heading. Shobeir had already saved a penalty from Iran’s Mehdi Taremi in the group stage, meaning he denied two different penalty takers in the same tournament before Argentina finally broke through.
Mohamed Salah and Egypt’s attacking players never found the extra goal that would have sealed the result, and the Pharaohs’ World Cup ends in the Round of 16 for now, with the foundation for future tournaments clearly in place.
What’s Next for Argentina
The defending champions move on to face Switzerland in the quarterfinals on July 11 in Kansas City, after the Swiss beat Colombia 4-3 on penalties following a scoreless draw. Argentina is chasing a fourth World Cup title and the chance to become the first team to win back-to-back championships since Brazil in 1958 and 1962, but Tuesday’s match was a reminder that this squad is not cruising through the bracket. Both of its knockout games so far have needed a moment of late drama to avoid an early exit.
More World Cup coverage continues throughout the knockout rounds, including the full breakdown of how the 48-team bracket works from here. Argentina’s road to Atlanta included another nervy comeback in the Round of 32 win over Cape Verde, and the pattern of narrow escapes is starting to look like a theme for Lionel Scaloni’s side.
