Lionel Messi missed a fourth penalty of the eight he has taken at the World Cup to compound Argentina’s troubles with the holders trailing Egypt in the last 16 on Tuesday.
Goalkeeper Mostafa Shoubir correctly dived to his left to push Messi’s first-half spot kick away, keeping the Pharaohs’ lead intact after Yasser Ibrahim headed in Marwan Attia’s delivery in the 15th minute in Atlanta.
“He actually didn’t look really confident,” former Scotland striker Ally McCoist told ITV of Messi’s penalty, calling the calamity for the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner “incredible”.
“I can’t believe I’m saying that of one of the greatest players on earth. Its the first time I’ve ever seen him when I’m not sure he believed himself.”
Messi MISSES another penalty 🙅♂️
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 7, 2026
Egypt's keeper Mostafa Shobeir throws himself at the ball to stop
Argentina capitalising on a foul on Nicolas Tagliafico 🫨 pic.twitter.com/O3RuRaU5aa
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Analysis: How Messi missed penalty in Argentina vs Egypt
Argentina were awarded a path back into the contest when forward Haissem Hassan brought down Nicolas Tagliafico.
“It’s a good save but it’s a comfortable one,” observed McCoist. “[Shoubir] goes the right way. It’s the perfect height for him.
“It’s funny because you look at Messi and he normally runs up, has a wee look and takes a bit of time. He’d made his mind up with that one.”
Argentina vs Egypt: ‘Brilliant’ goal at World Cup 2026
McCoist felt Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez had been confused about whether to step forward or backwards while marking Ibrahim for the goal.
“He gives himself a problem because he’s not in line with the rest of his defenders,” reckoned the pundit.
What a ball! ⚽️
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 7, 2026
Yasser Ibrahim's 'perfect' header sends Egypt ahead early doors against Argentina 😱 pic.twitter.com/JUypcQ6QMr
“He then thinks, ‘can I react in time? Do I step out, or stay with the man?’ He does neither. The delivery in’s brilliant.
“That really is an excellent delivery for the goal, coming away from the goalkeeper. It takes him out of the equation and lets the attacker attack it, which he did.”
World Cup 2026: Argentina team vs Egypt
Argentina made three changes from their last-32 win over Cape Verde as Facundo Medina, Thiago Almada and Lautaro Martinez were replaced by Nicolas Tagliafico, Leandro Paredes and Julian Alvarez.
Argentina starting XI: Emiliano Martinez, Nicolas Tagliafico, Lisandro Martinez, Cristian Romero, Nahuel Molina, Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Julian Alvarez, Lionel Messi
Argentina substitutes: Juan Musso, Geronimo Rulli, Marcos Senesi, Gonzalo Montiel, Nicolas Otamendi, Facundo Medina, Valentin Barco, Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Nico Gonzalez, Thiago Almada, Giuliano Simeone, Nico Paz, Jose Manuel Lopez, Lautaro Martinez
World Cup 2026: Egypt team vs Argentina
Egypt made two alterations from their win over Australia, in which Mohamed Salah had been a doubt because of a hamstring issue but played throughout and converted a penalty.
Mohanad Lashin and Hassan supplanted Hamdy Fathy and Manchester City striker Omar Marmoush.
Egypt starting XI: Mostafa Shoubir, Yasser Ibrahim, Mohamed Hany, Ramy Rabia, Karim Hafez, Emam Ashour, Mostafa Zico, Mohanad Lashin, Marawan Attia, Mohamed Salah, Haissem Hassan
Egypt substitutes: Mohamed Elshenawy, Mahdy Soliman, Mohamed Alaa, Hossam Abdelmaguid, Tarek Alaa, Hamdy Fathy, Nabil Donga, Mahmoud Saber, Trezeguet, Hamza Abdelkarim, Ibrahim Adel, Omar Marmoush, Zizo
Where to watch Argentina vs Egypt: TV channel, live online streams
Kick-off on Tuesday was at 17:00 BST (12:00 ET / 09:00 PT). In the UK, live TV coverage is on ITV1.
Streaming is via ITV’s website and ITVX app, which is available on a vast variety of devices for viewing on the go.
World Cup 2026: Argentina vs Egypt stats
- This is the first World Cup meeting between the countries, who last played each other in a friendly in Cairo in 2008
- Argentina won that match 2-0 through goals from Sergio Aguero and Nicolas Burdisso, with Messi absent because of injury
- Lionel Messi has scored in each of his last eight World Cup appearances for Argentina, extending his own tournament record
- The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has 12 goals in total across that run (5 in the last 4 matches in Qatar 2022, 7 in four in 2026)
- The Argentina captain became the first player to score at least seven goals at two World Cup tournaments, although Kylian Mbappe replicated that feat by converting France’s penalty winner against Paraguay in the last 16 on Saturday
- Mbappe is on course to win the golden boot because the Real Madrid striker leads Messi 2-0 in terms of assists. Norway’s Erling Haaland is the other player at the finals on seven goals, with England’s Harry Kane on six
- Since the start of Qatar 2022, Argentina have been awarded eight penalties in 12 World Cup matches
- Egypt have scored (8) and conceded (9) in each of their last six World Cup games – only Ghana have a longer such run (2010 to 2022)
- They can become the fifth African nation to reach the World Cup quarter-finals after Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002), Ghana (2010) and Morocco (2022 and 2026)
- Salah started the game having created 16 chances at this World Cup and was two away from matching the record for an African player, set by Kevin-Prince Boateng for Ghana in 2010
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