ATLANTA — Argentina produced another dramatic World Cup escape on Tuesday, storming back from two goals down late to defeat Egypt 3-2 and secure a place in the quarterfinals.
Trailing 2-0 with 11 minutes of regulation time remaining, the defending champions struck three times in a frantic finish. Cristian Romero headed in to start the rally in the 79th minute, Lionel Messi equalized in the 83rd with his eighth goal of the tournament, and Enzo Fernandez completed the comeback with the winner in stoppage time.
The result keeps Argentina’s title defense alive and sends them into the last eight, where they will play on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.
How Argentina’s comeback unfolded
For much of the match, Egypt looked set to deliver a stunning knockout blow. They took the lead in the 15th minute when Yasser Ibrahim got ahead of Lisandro Martinez to meet Marwan Attia’s cross and head into the bottom corner.
Argentina had a quick opportunity to respond from the penalty spot. Haissem Hassan tripped Nicolas Tagliafico in the box, referee François Letexier pointed to the spot, and Messi stepped up. But Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir dived to his left to save the penalty, marking Messi’s second miss of the tournament after also failing from the spot against Austria in the group stage.
Argentina continued to press for an equalizer before halftime, but key moments went against them. Messi hit the post later in the first half, and Shobeir produced another important stop to deny Julian Alvarez from close range.
Egypt thought it had doubled its advantage earlier in the second half when Mostafa Zico finished off a sweeping move, but the celebrations were halted after video review confirmed a foul earlier in the sequence and the goal was disallowed.
The second goal did arrive in the 67th minute, again through Zico, and this time it stood. At 2-0, Argentina’s bid to become the first team to win back-to-back World Cup titles since Brazil in 1958 and 1962 appeared to be slipping away.
Then came the late surge. Romero’s 79th-minute header gave Argentina life, and Messi followed four minutes later to make it 2-2. The equalizer was Messi’s eighth goal of the tournament and his record-extending 21st goal at the World Cup.
With the match headed toward extra time, Fernandez delivered the decisive moment in injury time, scoring the winner to complete the 3-2 turnaround.
“We have a phenomenal group, a group that never gives up no matter the difficulties and adversity. We’re always together,” Fernandez said after scoring the stoppage-time winner.
Argentina striker Julian Alvarez also pointed to the team’s persistence in the face of a bleak scoreboard late on. “There was little time left, but we always manage to get something more by fighting until the end,” he said.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni summed up the emotion of the finish after the final whistle. “I’m so emotional,” Scaloni said. “What a group of players, brother.”
Key moments, records, and reaction
The match featured major turning points beyond the late goals. Messi’s saved penalty and first-half shot off the post kept Argentina behind, while Egypt’s disallowed second-half goal offered a warning before Zico’s eventual strike made it 2-0.
Messi’s equalizer added another chapter to his World Cup scoring record, even as the penalty miss highlighted a contrasting statistic: despite being the all-time leading scorer at World Cups, he has now missed four of eight penalty kicks at the tournament.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan was left furious with how the match unfolded, saying his side “were better in everything, but the result.” He also claimed his team should have had a penalty before Argentina broke away for the winning goal and said he felt Egypt had been treated unfairly.
For Argentina, the comeback reinforced a familiar theme at the World Cup. The team has been involved in high-drama contests before, and Tuesday’s escape added another memorable entry as they move on to the quarterfinals in Kansas City on Saturday.
