2026 World Cup: Argentina overthrows Egypt and joins the 1/4

After an exciting round of 16 against Cape Verde, Argentina found a tough new opponent this Tuesday in Atlanta: Egypt, who had just defeated Australia on penalties. On the Argentine side, Scaloni opted for a 4-4-2 with Tagliafico starting in place of Medina, and Julián Álvarez associated with Messi in attack. Hossam Hassan’s Pharaohs responded in the same system, Salah and Ziko up front, Marmoush starting on the bench.

Despite possession largely to their advantage from the start, the world champions were surprised: on a three-way corner, Attia’s cross found Yasser Ibrahim at the far post, whose powerful header beat a static Martínez (0-1, 15th). Argentina quickly got the opportunity to equalize after a foul by Rabia on Tagliafico in the area, punished with a penalty by François Letexier. But Messi saw his shot repelled by an excellent Mostafa Shobeir, who started on the right side (21st). The Egyptian goalkeeper then made the decisive saves, on Mac Allister (28th) then on Álvarez (39th), while a distant free kick from Messi crashed into his post (31st). At the break, Egypt were logically leading on the scoreboard, forty-five minutes from a historic feat.

Complete turnaround in the last quarter of an hour

In the second half, the Argentinian attacks came up against a well-organized Egyptian block, while the Pharaohs looked to do harm on the counterattack. A strategy paid off twice: first via Hassan then Salah, a combination concluded by Hassan himself, goal finally canceled for a foul by Attia on Lisandro Martínez ahead of the action (58th). Then, seven minutes later, another rapid transition involving Salah and Hassan resulted in a cross taken by Ziko with a clear strike (0-2, 67th).

Argentina then found the resources to turn the tide. Romero first reduced the gap with a header from a cross from Messi (1-2, 80th). Four minutes later, Messi made amends for his missed penalty by taking a ball from Montiel: his shot hit the bar before going in (2-2, 84th). Then, in added time, Álvarez launched Lautaro Martínez on the counter, whose cross was perfectly taken by Enzo Fernández with an unstoppable cross strike (3-2, 90th + 3).

At the end of a completely crazy match, Argentina validates its qualification for the quarter-finals of this 2026 World Cup, where it will face the winner of Switzerland-Colombia, scheduled for 10 p.m.