Argentina’s second World Cup 2026 knockout match pits the reigning champions against Egypt in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi will be looking to continue his scintillating form, starting the contest as the seven-goal joint-top scorer at the finals alongside France’s Kylian Mbappe.
Led by iconic forward Mohamed Salah, Egypt earned their first-ever World Cup win by beating New Zealand during the group stage, advancing on five points before beating Australia on penalties in the last 32.
The winners of the tie will face Switzerland or Colombia, whose last-16 match takes place in Vancouver on Wednesday (21:00 BST), in a quarter-final in Kansas City on Sunday (02:00).
Let’s make history for Egypt. 🇪🇬❤️ #egyptnt#FIFAWORLDCUP pic.twitter.com/9GZLJleeUd
— Egypt National Team (@EgyptNT_EN) July 7, 2026
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World Cup 2026: Argentina confirmed team vs Egypt
Argentina make three changes from their last-32 win over Cape Verde as Facundo Medina, Thiago Almada and Lautaro Martinez make way for 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 full line up vs Argentina
Egypt are unchanged from that victory over the Socceroos, in which Salah had been a doubt because of a hamstring issue but played throughout and converted a penalty.
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 is 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 seven penalties in 11 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 has created 16 chances at this World Cup and is two away from matching the record for an African player, set by Kevin-Prince Boateng for Ghana in 2010
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