Enzo Fernandez’s 93rd-minute header completed a remarkable Argentina comeback as the holders recovered from being 2-0 behind with 12 minutes of regular time remaining to beat Egypt in Atlanta and advance to a World Cup 2026 quarter-final against Switzerland or Colombia.
Yasser Ibrahim’s 15th-minute header gave the underdogs a lead they preserved when goalkeeper Mostafa Shoubir saved Lionel Messi’s penalty shortly afterwards.
WHAT. A. RECOVERY! 🚨
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 7, 2026
Enzo Fernández heads Argentina into the lead in stoppage time 👀 pic.twitter.com/zreRbzAsq3
Mostafa Ziko had a second-half strike ruled out before slotting in from Mohamed Salah’s pass in the 67th minute to put the Pharaohs firmly on course for a colossal upset, but Cristian Romero halved the deficit by powering in from Messi’s cross in the 79th minute.
Within five minutes, Messi had fired in to equalise and give Lionel Scaloni’s side a momentum they capitalised upon when Fernandez met Lautaro Martinez’s delivery, sealing his side’s spot in the last eight after an almighty scare.
Die Nati and Los Cafeteros meet in Vancouver on Wednesday (21:00 BST) for the right to face Argentina in Kansas City on Sunday (02:00).
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World Cup 2026: Argentina edge past Egypt
Egypt had never won a World Cup match before this edition but seemed certain to earn their third victory since the group stage, with Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez culpable for both goals Argentina conceded.
Tournament top scorer Messi has failed to score from four of the eight World Cup penalties he has taken, Shoubir diving to his left to push the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner’s effort away before making superb saves from Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez during the first half.
Ziko’s slick goal seemed to have sealed a sensational result for the most successful side in Africa, only for Argentina to emphatically show why they are the reigning champions, throwing Messi aloft as a squad after the full-time whistle brought an end to another astonishingly dramatic tie at these finals.
Messi sends the Argentina bench CRAZY 🤩 pic.twitter.com/chRISJlpaW
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 7, 2026
Argentina vs Egypt analysis: World Cup ‘tears’ for Messi
Former Ireland captain Roy Keane compared Messi’s fortunes with generational rival Cristiano Ronaldo, whose Portugal side were eliminated the previous day.
“Yesterday we saw sad tears from Cristiano Ronaldo, and today we saw happy tears from Lionel Messi,” Keane told ITV, adding that he “loved” the thriller.
“This is why we love the game – absolutely amazing. Wow – my voice is gone.”
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 Martinez were replaced by Nicolas Tagliafico, Leandro Paredes and 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 Salah had been a doubt because of a hamstring issue but played throughout and converted a penalty.
Mohanad Lashin and Haissem 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
World Cup 2026: Argentina vs Egypt stats
- This was the first World Cup meeting between the countries, whose most recent previous meeting had been 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
- Messi has scored in each of his last nine World Cup appearances for Argentina, extending his own tournament record
- The 39-year-old has 13 goals in total across that run (5 in the last 4 matches in Qatar 2022, 8 in five 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
- France’s Mbappe and Norway’s Erling Haaland each have seven goals at this edition, 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 (9) and conceded (10) in each of their last seven World Cup games
- They failed to become the fifth African nation to reach the World Cup quarter-finals after Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002), Ghana (2010) and Morocco (2022 and 2026)
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