ATLANTA, GA — The top ranked team in the world found themselves facing elimination and scored three goals in the last 13 minutes of the match to win. Argentina defeated Egypt with a miraculous comeback in the final minutes of the round of 32 to advance to the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals.
Atlanta Stadium was filled with fans from Argentina and Egypt to watch this much anticipated round of 32 match on Tuesday, July 7. This World Cup match had controversy, an underdog story line, a superstar talent and plenty of goals being scored, which are all of the reasons why millions of fans love this tournament. Messi mania was in full effect before the match with thousands of fans lined up at the gates three hours before the start time in number 10 Argentina jerseys and some even had the old school number 19 Argentina jerseys all for their superstar Lionel Messi.
Egypt fans seem to be out numbered in the sea of baby blue and white, but things flipped when the match began. The intensity on the pitch between these two clubs was on display early on in this game with their physicality. It didn’t phase Egypt and they were able to draw blood first. Yasser Ibrahim found the back of the net on a head shot goal inside the box at the 15’ minute mark to give the underdogs a 1-0 lead over Argentina.
Argentina looked unsettled for majority of the first half of this match, but caught a break when they were granted with a penalty kick after Marawan Attia was handed a yellow card for a hard foul. Messi stepped up for the penalty kick, but was denied by Egypt’s goalkeeper Mostafa Shoubir.
Shoubir played a great game on the back end for Egypt and finished with four saves on seven accurate shot attempts. Good goalkeeping has been a theme for matches played in Atlanta and throughout the entire tournament.
Argentina had another chance to put a score on the boars with a free kick at the 30’ minute mark but missed it. The two teams would go into halftime with Egypt holding onto their 1-0 lead.
It was an exciting and controversial second half that sparked a lot of conversation on social media after the game, but it was still one of the best, if not the best, match of the tournament so far. Egypt came out of the half with so much confidence and was able to find the back of the net around the 64’ minute mark. The goal was reviewed by VAR, FIFA’s official offsite review panel for the World Cup, and they determined that the play should’ve been stopped well before the goal due to a foul that occurred on the other end of the pitch.
No worries because Egypt was able to come back down the pitch and score at 67’ minute mark. Mostafa Zico would not be denied for a second time and gave his team a 2-0 lead.
The Egypt fan base went wild and were in full belief that their team was about to upset the number one ranked team in the world. Argentina fans were silent and in disbelief that they were about to get sent home from the World Cup with arguably the best player in the world and best team.
Argentina players said not so fast and showed signs of life in the 79’ minute when Cristian Romero was able to get their first goal and cut the deficit down to 2-1.
Then, Messi would find the the top left corner of the goal exactly four minutes later to tie the match 2-2 at the 83’ minute. That goal breathed life back into the Argentina fans as they were witnessing one of the greatest comebacks ever. The job was not finished though even though all the momentum shifted in the stadium to the baby blue and white sidelines.
Finally, Argentina was able to complete their incredible comeback with the third goal in stoppage time. Enzo Fernández delivered a shot from the left corner of the pitch to give Argentina a 3-2 lead and send them into the quarterfinals. The Argentina fans went crazy and so did the players. Messi and Fernández were lifted onto the shoulders of their teammates as they were carried around the pitch to embrace their fans. Also, fans stayed nearly a hour after the match was over to chant and cheer as their team moved on.
The Egypt side of things felt like they were robbed with controversial calls and were obviously disappointed with the outcome.
“We looked better than the reigning champions — better in everything — but the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it,” Egypt’s head coach Hossam Hassan told reporters after the match. “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.
“In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champion received support at every level.”
Hassan also didn’t like that official Francois Letexier was selected as one of the officials for their match. Letexier was part of the officiating crew in the 2022 FIFA World Cup semifinals between Argentina and France that ended in controversy due to a call he made.
“There seem to be pressures from the Argentina side on this outcome,” Hassan said. “We were objecting to the selection of the referee because of the French situation [Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup final], but everybody has to suffer at some point, and we suffered.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out [an alleged foul on Mo Salah]. It was not even checked by the VAR, and our second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.
“I want to put it in beautiful words and say, ‘Hard luck,’ but we have been treated unfairly and it has been an injustice,” he said.
Letexier and Hassan exchanged words in a heated verbal altercation after the game and Hassan accused Letexier of having “something to hide” during the exchange. FIFA has been heavily criticized throughout the years especially by the African nations. The organization didn’t help their case when they overturned the red card of American midfielder Folarion Balogun that allowed him to play in Team USA’s round of 16 match against Belgium.
Unfortunately, Hassan comments didn’t change the final results nor called for FIFA to review the key game changing plays any further after the match. Egypt remarkable run ended and they were knocked out of the tournament.
Argentina went on to defeat Switzerland 3-1 on Saturday, July 11 with some more late game magic to advance to the semifinals. They will return back to Atlanta on Wednesday, July 15 to face England. The semifinals match time is set for 3:00 p.m. EST.