Argentina football team managed to win 3-2 against Egypt in the round of 16 of the World Cup, even though they were leading 2-0 until the end!
One of the most beautiful and thrilling matches of this edition took place tonight in Atlanta. The Africans managed to open the scoring. Attia crossed and Yasser Ibrahim sent the ball into the goal, from 7 meters, with a header (min. 15).
Four minutes later, the Argentines were awarded a penalty after a foul by Hassan on Julian Alvarez. Lionel Messi executed, and the Egyptian goalkeeper Shobeir defended (min. 21). The South American also missed a penalty in this final tournament, in the match against Austria (2-0). For the Argentinian star, this was the fourth missed penalty of his career in the final tournament of the World Cup, which is a record.
Messi quickly got over that miss, however, sending the ball into the post from a free kick from around 25 yards in the 31st minute.
Shobeir had an incredible intervention on Julian Alvarez, in the 39th minute, and Egypt was ahead at the break.
In the second part, the Argentinian dominance intensified. The Africans acted on the counter-attack and had a disallowed goal, through Ziko, in the 59th minute after an action at speed. Called by VAR, the referee noticed that the action started by the Egyptians near their goal was preceded by a foul.
The same Ziko managed to score in the 68th minute, also following a counterattack, and Egypt seemed to be the winner.
Lionel Messi stepped up in the last 15 minutes
Lionel Messi did not agree. The Argentina star crossed for Romero’s unstoppable header in the 79th minute and equalized with a fierce shot from the box in the 83rd minute.
England’s Jordan Henderson was seriously injured while celebrating with fans
In the second minute of extra time, Lautaro Martinez escaped on the counter-attack, crossed into the box for Enzo Fernandez, who scored with a header and qualified Argentina for the quarter-finals. In the next stage, the South American team will meet the winner of the match Colombia – Switzerland, which is played tonight.
Although he missed two penalty kicks, Lionel Messi is the top scorer of the World Cup 2026, with 8 goals, reaching 21 successes in the matches played in the final tournaments of the WC.
Argentina – Egypt 3-2 (0-1)
ATLANTA (July 7, 2026) * Stadium: Atlanta * Spectators: 68,239 * Referee: Francois Letexier * Assistant referees: Cyril Mugnier, Mehdi Rahmouni (all from France) * Referee no. 4: Espen Eskas (Norway) * Reserve assistant referee: Isaak Bashevkin (Norway) * Video referee: Jerome Brisard (France) * Video assistant referees: Willy Delajod (France), Bram van Driessche (Belgium)
They scored: Cristian Romero (min. 79), Lionel Messi (min. 83), Enzo Fernandez (min. 90+2), respectively, Yasser Ibrahim (min. 15), Mostafa Zico (min. 67).
Yellow cards: Fathy (min. 90+4), Shoubir (min. 90+5), Attia (min. 90+8), Hossam Hassan (min. 90+9), Haissem Hassan (after the match).
Red card: Saafan Elsaghir (second Egypt – min. 90+4).
Argentine: 23. Emiliano Martinez – 26. Nahuel Molina (4. Gonzalo Montiel, 73), 13. Cristian Romero (19. Nicolas Otamendi, 90+5), 6. Lisandro Martinez, 3. Nicolas Tagliafico (15. Nicolas Gonzalez, 66) – 5. Leandro Paredes – 7. Rodrigo De Paul (22. Lautaro Martinez, 66), 24. Enzo Fernandez, 20. Alexis MacAllister – 10. Lionel Messi (capt.), 9. Julian Alvarez (25. Facundo Medina, 90+5).
Unused reserves: 1. Juan Musso, 12. Geronimo Rulli – 2. Marcos Senesi, 8. Valentin Barco, 11. Giovani Lo Celso, 14. Exequiel Palacios, 16. Thiago Almada, 17. Giuliano Simeone, 18. Nicolas Paz, 21. Jose Manuel Lopez.
Coach: Lionel Scaloni.
Egypt: 23. Mostafa Shoubir – 3. Mohamed Hany, 5. Ramy Rabia, 2. Yasser Ibrahim, 15. Karim Hafez – 19. Marawan Attia, 17. Mohanad Lashin (25. Zizo, 90+6) – 12. Haissem Hassan (7. Trezeguet, 73), 10. Mohamed Salah (capt.), 8. Emam Ashour (14. Hamdi Fathy, 46) – 11. Mostafa Zico (22. Omar Marmoush, 80).
Unused reserves: 1. Mohamed Elshenawy, 16. Mahdy Soliman, 26. Mohamed Alaa – 4. Hossam Abdelmaguid, 24. Tarek Alaa, 18. Nabil Donga, 21. Mahmoud Saber, 9. Hamza Abdelkarim, 20. Ibrahim Adel.
Coach: Hossam Hassan.
2026 FIFA World Cup
Optimum finals
Canada – Morocco 0-3
Paraguay – France 0-1
Brazil – Norway 1-2
Mexico – England 2-3
Portugal – Spain 0-1
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Belgium – USA 4-1
Argentina – Egypt 3-2
23.00: Switzerland – Colombia
Quarter finals
Thursday, July 9, 2026
23.00: France – Morocco
Friday, July 10, 2026
22.00: Spain – Belgium
Sunday, July 12, 2026
0.00 am: Norway – England
4:00 a.m.: Argentina – Switzerland / Colombia
