Lionel Messi inspired a stunning Argentina comeback against Egypt in the World Cup round of 16 to book their place in the quarterfinals, as the defending champion was two goals down with 13 minutes left on the clock to beat Egypt 3-2.
Egypt stunned Argentina early with an early header from Yasser Ibrahim, putting them ahead in the first half. A few minutes afterwards, Lionel Messi missed a penalty that could have put Argentina level, allowing Egypt to keep their lead to halftime.
Mostafa Zico doubled Egypt’s advantage in the 67th minute, which makes it seem like the defending champion is getting knocked out until Messi’s cross into the box is headed in by Christian Romero, putting pressure on Egypt. Messi doubled down on taking the game level by scoring a volley, with Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea scoring the late winning goal to seal the game at stoppage time.
On the way to pulling a comeback, Messi overtakes Mbappe as the top scorer of the 2026 World Cup tournament with 8 goals and also broke the record of most assists in World Cup history with 9. Argentina will now await Switzerland in the quarterfinals.
