0-2. Eleven minutes left.
Argentina were going home.
Romero scored. Messi scored. Enzo scored. All three in the last eleven minutes.
3-2. Quarter-finals. Egypt on the plane home.
Egypt Were Excellent Until They Were Not
Ibrahim. 15th minute. Marawan Attia played him in. Egypt 1-0. The Argentina end at Atlanta Stadium went quiet.
Then the penalty. Messi. Shobeir saved it. Brilliantly. Down low to his right. Messi’s second missed penalty of this World Cup.
He stood there. Hands on hips. 0-1 down. Penalty missed. The captain looking at the ground.
For the next hour nothing changed. Egypt were organised. Compact. Shobeir making saves every time Argentina got close. Mac Allister had one. Álvarez had one. Both went straight at the keeper.
67th minute. Zico. Hassan found him in behind. Low finish. 2-0.
The Egypt fans celebrated like they had already reached the quarter-finals.
They had eleven minutes left of doing so.
Three Goals. Eleven Minutes.
79th. Romero. Messi swung in a corner. The centre-back got to the back post before anyone and headed it in. 1-2.
Everything changed in that second. Egypt were suddenly panicking. Argentina were suddenly believing.
83rd. Messi.
Montiel had come on and received the ball in the box. He did not shoot. He found Messi instead. Perfectly weighted. Messi lashed it first time. It hit the underside of the crossbar and went in. 2-2. Atlanta lost its mind.
90+3. Enzo.
Lautaro got to the byline on the left. Pulled it back low. Enzo arrived at the back post and headed it. Net. 3-2. Done.
The whole stadium. The Argentina end. The neutrals. Everyone.
Messi at 39
His 21st World Cup goal. Nobody else is close to that number. Nobody else will ever be close.
He missed a penalty in the first half. He scored the most important goal of the game in the 83rd minute. That is his career in two sentences.
Seven goals in this tournament. 39 years old. His last World Cup. Every time someone writes the story of his final chapter, he adds another line to it.
Egypt Deserved More
They were better for most of the match. They were two goals ahead with eleven minutes left.
Ibrahim scored. Zico scored. Shobeir saved Messi’s penalty and about four other chances that looked like goals. The Egyptian fans at Atlanta sang and celebrated for an hour.
Then three goals in eleven minutes and it was over.
Attia booked in the 90th. Frustrated. You cannot blame him.
Egypt reached the Round of 16 for the first time in their history. Beat Australia to get there. Came within eleven minutes of a quarter-final. Football took it away in the cruellest fashion.
Nobody from Egypt should hang their head. They just ran into Argentina at the wrong eleven minutes.
What Comes Next
Argentina play Switzerland in the quarter-finals. The Swiss beat Colombia 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
Two paths to the quarter-final. Argentina the dramatic way. Switzerland the grinding way. Should be some game.
For more 2026 World Cup coverage visit FawaNews World Cup 2026. Full bracket and fixtures at the official FIFA World Cup 2026 website.
Argentina 3-2 Egypt FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 16 | Tuesday, 7 July 2026 | Atlanta Stadium, Georgia
Goals: Ibrahim 15′ (EGY, assist Attia) | Zico 67′ (EGY, assist Hassan) | Romero 79′ (ARG, assist Messi corner) | Messi 83′ (ARG, assist Montiel) | Enzo Fernández 90+3′ (ARG, assist Lautaro)
Penalty missed: Messi 21′ (saved Shobeir) Yellow cards: Hamdy Fathy 90+4′ | Attia 90+7′ (EGY)
Argentina XI: Rulli | Molina, Romero, L. Martínez, Tagliafico | Mac Allister, Paredes, De Paul, Enzo | Álvarez, Messi Subs: Lautaro (for De Paul 66′), N. González (for Tagliafico 66′), Montiel (for Molina 73′), Otamendi (for Romero 90+4′)
Egypt XI: Shobeir | Karem, Hegazy, Ibrahim, Attia | Fathy, El Solia | Hassan, Trézéguet, Salah | Zico Subs: Fathy (for Ashour HT), Marmoush (for Zico 80′), Zizo (for Lashin 90+5′)
Stats: Possession ARG 57% EGY 34% | Shots on target 7-2 | Attempts 19-5
HT: 0-1 | FT: 3-2 Next: Argentina vs Switzerland — Quarter-Final
