Argentina, the defending World Cup champion, stunned Egypt with a last‑gasp turnaround in their Round of 16 match in Atlanta, overturning a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2.
Egypt appeared to be in control for much of the game. Yasser Ibrahim opened the scoring with a header in the 15th minute, and after a video-review overturned an earlier Egyptian goal, Mostafa Ziko doubled the lead in the 67th minute. Lionel Messi also missed a penalty in the first half, and Argentina looked headed for an early exit.
But Argentina rallied in a furious 13-minute burst late in the match. In the 79th minute Cristian Romero nodded in a Lionel Messi cross to get Argentina on the board. Four minutes later Messi himself finished a driven shot past the Egyptian goalkeeper — his eighth goal of the tournament and the most of any player so far — leveling the match at 2-2. In stoppage time Enzo Fernández rose to head home the winner and send Argentina into the quarterfinals.
“This is the World Cup for you,” Messi said after the game. “It wasn’t easy to come back from two goals down. But as I always say, this group never gives up. We always try to fight until the end.” Several Argentine players, including Messi, were visibly emotional after the victory.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan disputed elements of the officiating in his postgame remarks, saying he was “not convinced” by how events unfolded and that his team had been subjected to “injustice.” Images from the match showed French referee François Letexier speaking with Egypt forward Mohamed Salah during the game.
The result keeps Argentina’s title defense alive; they will face the winner of the Switzerland‑Colombia match in the quarterfinals. For Egypt, reaching the Round of 16 represented a historic achievement and a source of pride despite the heartbreaking finish.
The match also highlighted the strong showing by African teams in the tournament: Morocco remains unbeaten, and other African sides have produced notable results throughout the competition.