Argentina produced one of the most dramatic comebacks of the 2026 World Cup as the defending champions recovered from two goals down to defeat Egypt 3-2 and book their place in the quarter-finals.
Lionel Scaloni’s side appeared to be heading for a shock elimination in Atlanta after Egypt built a 2-0 lead through Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico. However, Cristian Romero’s late goal sparked an incredible turnaround before Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez completed the rescue mission.
Egypt, who had already made history by winning their first ever World Cup match earlier in the tournament, started with confidence and stunned Argentina after 15 minutes. Ibrahim rose above Lisandro Martinez to meet Marwan Attia’s cross and guide a header into the bottom corner.
Argentina were quickly handed the chance to respond when Nicolas Tagliafico was fouled by Haissem Hassan inside the area, but Messi’s penalty was brilliantly saved by Mostafa Shobeir.
The Egypt goalkeeper became the star of the first half, later denying Alexis Mac Allister’s header before making a superb one-handed stop to prevent Julian Alvarez from equalising before the break.
Egypt continued to frustrate the reigning champions and thought they had doubled their advantage when Zico finished a flowing counter-attack involving Mohamed Salah and Hassan, only for the goal to be ruled out after a VAR review.
Zico eventually got his moment midway through the second half, calmly converting Hassan’s delivery to leave Egypt just minutes away from one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history.
But Argentina refused to surrender. Romero headed in after 79 minutes to restore belief before Messi, who had struggled for much of the match, delivered when his team needed him most. The 39-year-old fired a loose ball into the net via the underside of the crossbar, scoring his 21st World Cup goal and setting up a dramatic finale.
The decisive moment arrived two minutes into stoppage time when Fernandez met Lautaro Martinez’s cross and headed home the winner. The goal was also a historic milestone, becoming the 3,000th scored in World Cup history.
Egypt were furious with the circumstances surrounding the winner, believing they should have been awarded a penalty moments earlier after Salah went down following a challenge from Alvarez. Referee Francois Letexier allowed play to continue, and Argentina punished them on the counter-attack.
Despite his missed penalty, Messi added another chapter to his remarkable World Cup story. The Inter Miami forward became the first player to score in six consecutive knockout-stage matches and has now scored eight goals in the opening five games of this tournament, the best return since Gerd Müller’s 10 in 1970.
Egypt leave the competition after a heartbreaking defeat but with a campaign that exceeded expectations, pushing the world champions to the edge. Argentina move on to face Switzerland in the quarter-finals as their pursuit of back-to-back World Cup titles continues.