It was almost not believable. Egypt had one foot in the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time ever, mere weeks on from claiming a maiden win on this stage. But three Argentina goals in just 13 minutes, the last scored by Enzo Fernández in stoppage time, turned the match upside down.
Argentina dominated the key stats, but Egypt had executed the perfect gameplan. The seven-time African champion defended resolutely and made excellent use of set pieces and breakaways.
Meanwhile, Argentina rued another missed penalty from Lionel Messi—his fourth from eight attempts in World Cup play to extend his own unwanted record—and a lack of others in a deeply talented squad of players stepping up to the plate when it was needed.
By the time Messi was denied from 12 yards by Mostafa Shobeir, Egypt already led. Center back Yasser Ibrahim outmaneuvered and outjumped Lisandro Martínez to power a header into the far corner. Shobeir went on to make a fairly comfortable save from an Alexis Mac Allister header, before a much more challenging save from Julián Alvarez towards the end of the first half.
Egypt deserved to lead at the break, and Argentina was not doing enough to warrant being level. Hossam Hassan’s team was soon denied an out-of-this-world second goal, the work of Haissem Hassan’s tireless run from deep on the counter, feeding Mohamed Salah, in turn feeding Mostafa Ziko. The finish over Emiliano Martínez was exquisite, the celebrations ecstatic. Then ... VAR.
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Egypt Left Broken
One of the greatest would-be World Cup goals of the 21st century, chalked off for a second look at a soft foul at the other end of the pitch. “Not saying it’s wrong, but it FEELS wrong,” prominent journalist Miguel Delaney posted on X, succinctly capturing the mood. Still, Egypt kept doing what was working and within seven minutes, during which time Argentina created no chances, had scored a legitimate second goal. The mercy was that it was Ziko who scored, and Hassan was again the architect.
Only then, with the second hydration break down and a quarter of the match left to play, Argentina woke up. First, it was Cristian Romero with a header in the middle of the box, set up by a Messi cross … 11 minutes left. Messi himself snatched the second with seven minutes to go, capitalizing as Egypt failed to fully clear a cross that invited itself to be smashed in. Scoring in his sixth-consecutive World Cup knockout tie, Messi now has 21 World Cup goals overall. Shobeir got hands on both Romero’s and Messi’s goal-bound efforts and might feel disappointed he didn’t save at least one.
Momentum had firmly shifted in the match by then, and the Argentinians silenced by Egypt’s earlier heroics had come alive. The 92nd-minute Fernández header was the 3,000th goal in World Cup history, perhaps fitting that it was scored in one of the greatest-ever matches played over 96 years.
Opta rated Argentina’s chance to win the match after 78 minutes at just 0.6%, while it was the latest any team has trailed by two goals and still come back to win the match in World Cup history.
Argentina Almost Fumbles Golden World Cup Opportunity Again
Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard. Coldplay, The Scientist
After everything, Argentina is into the World Cup quarterfinals again. But it was harder than it needed to be to get this far, because two rounds in a row, the defending champion has struggled against opponents no one would have expected it to.
On paper, it was supposed to be a stroll to the semifinals. Group J was favorable in a World Cup full of similar groups handed to tier one nations. The knockout phase was straightaway heavily concentrated on the other side of the bracket, with Argentina well aware it could get all the way to the final four before having to face any FIFA top-10 ranked opponent.
Argentina is yet to have a stern test, but in back-to-back knockout matches against Cabo Verde and now Egypt, things have been more complicated than anyone expected. Argentina has edged both matches 3–2, requiring extra time against the former and almost needing it again for the latter.
Ranked only 22nd in the world after racing up the FIFA standings since the World Cup began, Egypt was the best team Argentina has faced so far and so nearly almost knocked the champion out.
It begs the question if Argentina hasn’t had enough match practice against quality opponents in the buildup to the World Cup. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail, the famous saying goes.
Argentina has now won 12 matches in a row without beating anyone of major note. Playing Mauritania and Zambia in March was the unavoidable consequence of hastily arranged friendlies against anyone who was available, after the 2026 Finalissima against Spain was called off due to concerns about the conflict in the Middle East. But Honduras and Iceland didn’t offer much opposition in June, while last fall Argentina played and beat Puerto Rico and Angola.
Either Cabo Verde or Egypt winning would have been among the all-time great World Cup shocks and the last genuine challenge this team faced prior to the tournament—away against Ecuador in qualifying 10 months ago ended in defeat.
Perceptions of the level Argentina is at appear to have been inflated by circumstance, and perhaps an overly-kind route through the group stage and early knockout rounds isn’t as helpful as it seemed it would be, because the team clearly isn’t in fighting shape against improving opponents.
Switzerland or Colombia is next up, a match for which Argentina is again comfortably the favorite on paper. But then it’s one of England or Norway who awaits after that, and the vulnerabilities that Cabo Verde and Egypt have already poked at could be blown wide open.
