Despite crashing out in the most heartbreaking fashion, Egypt’s football federation had a message for their players, Yankee Scores reports.
Argentina looked on course for a quick World Cup exit before they pulled off one of the great escapes of the tournament so far so secure a place in the quarter finals
كنتم رجالًا على قدر المسؤولية.. فخورون بكم ♥️
شكرًا لكم على كل شيء 🇪🇬🔝 pic.twitter.com/oUzVUiIr1m
— EFA.eg (@EFA) July 7, 2026
A Shocking Start
Egypt stunned the defending champions in Atlanta, going ahead in the 15th minute when Yasser Ibrahim headed home from the highest position.
From there it only got worse for Argentina. Mohamed El Shenawy made a string of massive saves in the first half including saving a Lionel Messi penalty and also denying Mac Allister and Alvarez to keep Argentina goalless at the break.
Egypt Extends Lead
The Pharaohs widened their lead in the 67th minute through Mostafa Zico who finished off good work down the right flank.
Egypt thought they had a third soon after but VAR disallowed the goal for an earlier foul and Argentina were staring down the barrel of a shock exit with just over ten minutes to go.
The Comeback
Then came the crash and no one expected it. Cristian Romero headed home from a Messi cross in the 79th minute to give Argentina a glimmer of hope.
Four minutes later Messi scored himself, smashing a first-time shot to make it 2-2. The champions pulled off the turnaround in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Enzo Fernandez headed in the ball off a Lautaro Martinez cross to snatch a 3-2 win.
The result extended Messi’s impressive scoring run in six consecutive World Cup knockout matches. He is now tied with seven goals as the tournament’s joint top scorer with Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
What’s Next?
Argentina advanced to the quarter finals where they will play the winner of Switzerland v Colombia.
Egypt are out of the World Cup after being minutes away from pulling off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.
