The current world champion, the Argentina national team, avoided a sensational elimination from the 2026 FIFA World Cup (2026 FIFA World Cup) in the 1/8 final match with the Egyptian national team, coming back from 0:2 in the last 11 minutes of normal time. Argentine captain Lionel Messi first scored an assist and then scored his eighth goal of the tournament.
The Egyptian national team, through the efforts of Yasser Ibrahim, scored the first goal at the stadium in Atlanta (Georgia) already in the 15th minute of the match, and then strengthened the advantage in the 68th, when there was less than half an hour to play. Mostafa Zico scored a goal from a pass from the main star of the Egyptian team, Mohamed Salah.
As the FIFA website notes, the Egyptians were helped to keep their goal intact until the 79th minute by the “amazing” play of goalkeeper Mustafa Choubir, who saved a penalty from Messi, as well as field goals from Argentine stars Alexis McAllister and Julián Alvarez.
The final assault of the Argentines began with a goal from Christian Romero from a pass from Messi, and then a precise strike from the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner himself in the 84th minute. In stoppage time, Enzo Fernandez sent the third goal into the Egyptian goal, allowing the outcome of the match to be decided without extra time. The meeting ended with a score of 3:2 in favor of Argentina.
Fernandez's winning goal went down in history as it became the 3,000th at the World Cup, the FIFA website adds. Messi, with eight goals, single-handedly led the race for the Golden Boot of the tournament, for which he will compete with the Norwegian Erling Haaland and the Frenchman Killian Mbappe. Both continue to participate in the World Cup and have seven goals scored.
Argentina's opponent in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup will be determined in the Switzerland-Colombia game, which will be held at the stadium in San Francisco on Tuesday evening.
