Argentina suffers, goes down by two goals, but Egypt comes from behind to reach the World Cup quarter-finals thanks to an incredible 3-2 victory matured towards the end. Lionel Scaloni's team risked elimination after the Africans opened the scoring through Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico's second goal, which came shortly after another Egyptian goal was disallowed by VAR for an early foul. The Selección also had a difficult evening: Lionel Messi has a penalty saved by Shobeir in the first half and seems destined for a sensational exit.
In the last fifteen minutes, however, everything changes. Cristian Romero reopens the match with a header in the 79th minuteThen, in the 83rd minute, Messi arrived as usual: the number 10 controlled the ball on the edge of the box and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot that tied the score at 2-2 and put the world champions back on track. Deep into injury time, Enzo Fernández completed the comeback with a header that sent Argentina into a frenzy and ended Egypt's dream.
Once again, Messi proved to be the decisive man for the Selección. After his penalty miss, the Argentine champion found the strength to lead his team with a crucial goal and an assist, proving crucial in their qualification. With the goal that made it 2-2, he also rose with 8 goals in the tournament, consolidating his first place in the World Cup scoring charts and confirming himself as the main candidate for the Golden Shoe.
Argentina continues its defense of the title and will face the quarter-finals Switzerland, who beat Colombia on penalties, after extra time had ended 0-0. By reaching the quarterfinals, Switzerland equaled their best historical result, achieved on three other occasions: in the two World Cups won by Italy in 1934 and 1938 and in the home World Cup in 1954.
