The Pharaohs of Egypt surrendered a two-goal lead in their 3-2 loss to Argentina in their round 16 match at the 2026 World Cup.
Egypt appeared on course for one of the tournament’s biggest upsets until Argentina scored three goals in the final thirteen minutes to send the Atlanta Stadium in Georgia, agog.
Enzo Fernandez scored the decisive header deep into stoppage time to complete the comeback started by Cristian Romero’s finish and Lionel Messi’s well-struck goal.
Egypt took a surprise lead in the 15th minute when Yasser Ibrahim rose highest to power home a glorious header from Marwan Attia’s corner kick.
Argentina were handed a lifeline in the 20th minute when full-back Nicolas Tagliafico was brought down in the penalty box. However, Egyptian goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir guessed correctly, diving low to his right to brilliantly save Messi’s spot-kick. It was Messi’s second penalty miss of the tournament.
Shobeir continued his heroic display in the first half, pulling off exceptional saves to deny Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez, ensuring Egypt went into the break with their lead intact.
The underdogs doubled their advantage in the 67th minute. Mostafa Ziko neatly converted a cross past Emiliano Martínez to put the Pharaohs 2-0 up.
With their title defence on the line, Lionel Scaloni’s men threw bodies forward in a desperate bid to rescue the tie. The comeback began in the 79th minute when Romero met a beautifully whipped cross from Messi with a bullet header to make it 2-1.
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Just four minutes later, absolute pandemonium ensued. Under relentless pressure, the Egyptian defence failed to clear its lines. The ball fell to Messi in the centre of the box, and the 39-year-old icon redeemed himself for his earlier penalty miss by shifting the ball onto his left foot and cannoning in the equaliser off the upright.
With both sides visibly exhausted and creating end-to-end opportunities in seven minutes of added time, a vital defensive intervention by Leandro Paredes stopped a dangerous Egyptian three-on-two counter-attack.
Argentina immediately launched a break of their own. A cross was floated precisely into the centre of the penalty area, where Fernández arrived on cue to smash a powerful header past Shobeir in the 92nd minute, completing the turnaround.
Argentina successfully held on to their 3-2 lead and will face the winners of the game between Switzerland and Colombia in the quarter-finals on July 11.
