Messi, Argentina pull off heist, defeat Egypt 3-2 to qualify for quarterfinal

This is the first time Argentina have overhauled a two-goal deficit in a World Cup match.

Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Argentina and Egypt in Atlanta, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

By: Sports Desk

3 min readJul 8, 2026 12:51 AM IST First published on: Jul 7, 2026 at 11:41 PM IST

When Argentina desperately needed him, Lionel Messi delivered once again. With a goal and an assist for Argentina, Messi dragged the defending champions from a 0-2 deficit against Egypt to a 3-2 victory at Atlanta Stadium on Tuesday. The win kept alive Argentina’s title defence as the South American giants progressed to the World Cup quarter-finals.

This is the first time Argentina have overhauled a two-goal deficit in a World Cup match. And it came because of copious amounts of Messi magic. After 78 minutes in their last 16 clash against Egypt at the Atlanta Stadium, Argentina had one foot out the exit door. Messi by then had missed a penalty. It looked like a rare off day for the maestro.

Then in the span of just four minutes a 0-2 deficit became a 2-2 scoreline, before a 92nd minute winner was scored sending Argentina to the quarters. Messi assisted the first goal, floating a delightful cross into the Egypt box that Cristian Romero headed in. Then, four minutes later, Messi put the ball into the Egypt net himself. And just when the match looked destined for extra time, Argentina’s winner came from an Enzo Fernandez header in the 92nd minute.

Thanks to the goal, Messi surged into the lead in the Golden Boot race once again with his 8th goal at the ongoing tournament, one goal ahead of France’s Kylian Mbappe and Norway’s Erling Haaland whose teams have also progressed to the quarter-finals. Messi has now scored in nine consecutive appearances in the World Cup.

Messi’s goal and an assist came hours after Cristiano Ronaldo could not inspire a similar fightback for Portugal as they were knocked out with defeat to Spain. Argentina’s continental arch-rivals Brazil too were sent home by Norway, with Vinicius Junior and Neymar, who came on as a substitute and scored a penalty, unable to overhaul a deficit. After the defeat, Ronaldo confirmed that he had played his last game for Portugal while Neymar called time on his international career for five-time champions Brazil. But the Messi and Argentina juggernaut rolled on.

In what was a dramatic game, Argentina were trailing from the 15th minute itself after a Yasser Ibrahim header. Argentina could have levelled when Messi stepped up to convert from the penalty spot. But his spot kick was saved by goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir.

In the second half, Egypt’s Mostafa Zico put the ball into the Argentina net only to see it being chalked offside after a VAR check. But just 10 minutes later, Zico slotted the ball into the net to double Egypt’s lead. This time, there was no reversing the decision. It was a goal that looked like it had confirmed Egypt’s first-ever quarter-final berth at the FIFA World Cup.

But Messi had other ideas.