FIFA World Cup 2026: Argentina produce epic World Cup fightback to beat Egypt, reach quarters

Argentina staged a stunning comeback from 20 down to avoid a stunning exit at the hands of Egypt and prolong Lionel Messis World Cup career with a 32 win to reach the quarterfinals The holders looked down and out when goals from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Ziko either side of Messi having a penalty saved put the Pharaohs in sight of a historic victory in AtlantaHowever Cristian Romeros header sparked the comeback as Argentina struck three times in the final 11 minutes plus stoppage time Messi smashed home the equaliser to score for a ninth consecutive World Cup game and retake the lead for the Golden Boot with eight this tournamentEnzo Fernandez completed the turnaround with a superb header two minutes into stoppage time At the end Messi shed tears of joy as he embraced his teammates Egypt were left furious after a number of controversial calls went against them including a disallowed goal early in the second half and a member of their coaching staff was redcarded in the aftermath of the winning goalBut despite a second almighty scare against African opposition Argentina will face either Colombia or Switzerland in the last eight on Saturday Lionel Scaloni attempted to refresh a side that looked dead on their feet in the closing stages of a 32 win over Cape Verde in the last 32 on FridayNicolas Tagliafico Leandro Paredes and Julian Alvarez came in from the team that started in Miami but Argentina got off to another slow start Marwan Attias deep cross to the back post was powered home by YasserArgentina had the chance to level five minutes later when Tagliafico was wiped out by Haissem Hassan inside the box However there was another chapter to Messis misery from the penalty spot at World CupsThe eighttime Ballon dOrs strike was tentative and Mostafa Shobeir flew to his left to save meaning Messi has now missed four of his eight nonshootout penalties at World Cups He also became the first player to miss two in a single tournament having also failed to hit the target against Austria in the group stagesThe penalty save was just the start of Shobeirs inspired afternoon Alexis Mac Allsters powerful header from pointblank range was next to be parried by the Al Ahly stopper Shobeir then produced one of the saves of the tournament to prevent Alvarezs shot finding the bottom cornerEgypt thought they had doubled their lead on the hour mark after a brilliant counterattack Mohamed Salah played in Mostafa Ziko who dinked the ball perfectly over the onrushing Emi Martinez However Egyptian celebrations were cut short by a hugely controversial VAR intervention for a foul on Lisandro Martinez just outside the Egypt box at the start of the buildup to the goalThe decision finally fired up the majority Argentine crowd but they were silenced once more moments later by another blistering Egyptian break Salah again led the charge before feeding Hassan and his cross was swept in by ZicoArgentina looked like a beaten side with Messi among those who head was bowed during the secondhalf drinks break Yet Romeros header that Shoubir just failed to keep out sparked a remarkable revival as the defending champions hauled themselves off the canvas Moments later a dazzling run by Messi teed up Lautaro Martinez who headed just wide and Messi was to have his moment of redemption seven minutes from timeGonzalo Montiel fed the ball back for his captain to strike sweetly on the half volley Shoubir again got a touch but couldnt get it out as the ball cannonned in off the bar for Messis 21st World Cup goal Then Fernandezs bullet header from Lautaro Martinezs cross completed the fightback and Argentinas relief was on full display after the final whistleThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever