Mother of All Comebacks: Argentina stun Egypt late to secure quarterfinal berth

Lionel Messi inspired Argentina to a late comeback against Egypt as the defending champions came from 0-2 down to win their Last 16 match 3-2 in Atlanta on Tuesday (Jul 7), securing a quarterfinal berth at the FIFA World Cup 2026. Messi assisted once and scored too, increasing his tally at this edition to eight and counting, with goals from Cristian Romero and Enzo Fernández sealing the mother of all comebacks for their side. Argentina will now face the winner of Switzerland and Colombia in the quarterfinal.

After Messi missed his second straight penalty in successive games at this edition, he scored one in the 83rd minute to equalise before watching Fernández hit the knockout punch with a clear header in stoppage time to help Argentina secure a famous win at the World Cup.

Messi wasn’t at his best while taking penalties, and his second miss in the last four chances proves the same. He, however, remained upbeat about his team's chances of winning the game despite Egypt leading 2-0 with just 20 minutes remaining. Following Egypt's second goal, scored by Mustafa Ziko in the 67th minute, minutes after his goal was disallowed amid a controversial decision, Argentina pulled up their socks. They broke the stubborn Egyptian defence thrice in 14 minutes to make a stunning comeback into the game.

FIFA World Cup 2026 Live on Zee5 Photograph: (WION)

Messi, the Player of the Match, for his goal and an assist, both clinical in the context of the game, shed tears of joy while embracing his teammates. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was almost too choked up to speak afterwards, saying: “I'm really emotional right now. What a group of players, man.”

Egypt, goals and controversial decisions

Egypt was left furious after several controversial calls went against them, including a disallowed goal early in the second half, and a member of their coaching staff was red-carded in the aftermath of the winning goal. However, that was not how they began their quest for a quarterfinal berth in the World Cup.

Marwan Attia's deep cross to the back post was powered home by Yasser early in the first half. Argentina had the chance to level five minutes later when Tagliafico was wiped out by Haissem Hassan inside the box. The Egyptian goalkeeper, Mostafa Shobeir, then won a million praises worldwide for his tactical yet brave save against Messi’s penalty, leaving the eight-time Ballon d’Or heartbroken over his second-straight miss, also becoming the first player to miss two in a single tournament, having also failed to hit the target against Austria in the group stages.

That penalty save, however, was just the start of Shobeir's inspired afternoon. Alexis Mac Allister's powerful header from point-blank range was next to be parried by the Al Ahly stopper. Shobeir then produced one of the saves of the tournament to prevent Alvarez's shot from finding the bottom corner.

Later, in the second half, Mohamed Salah played in Mostafa Ziko, who dinked the ball perfectly over the onrushing Emi Martinez.

The Egyptian celebrations were cut short by a hugely controversial VAR intervention for a foul on Lisandro Martínez, just outside the Egypt box, at the start of the build-up to the goal.

The decision finally fired up the majority of the 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 Zico.

Moments later, Argentina scored three goals and won the game, punching their quarterfinal ticket.