In a stunning comeback, Argentina beat Egypt 3-2, becoming the first team to recover from a two-goal deficit late in a World Cup match.
With this victory, Argentina avoided one of the biggest surprises in the history of the tournament, keeping alive their hopes of winning a second consecutive title. It also guaranteed Messi, 39, the chance to play at least one more match in his World Cup career. The situation had become critical when Egypt managed to take a 2-0 lead, thanks to a goal from Mostafa Zico in the 67th minute, raising fears that we were witnessing the final moments of Messi's career in the tournament.
However, Argentina was not willing to let this adventure end like that. In the 79th minute, Messi set up Cristian Romero with a precise header, closing the gap and reviving hopes of a comeback. Just four minutes later, Messi decided to strike out on his own: Gonzalo Montiel recovered a chaotic cross into the area and passed it to Messi, who hit the ball with his left foot. The ball bounced off the hands of Egyptian goalkeeper Mostafa Shoubir and found its way into the net, sparking Argentine joy.
With the score now set at 2-2, the possibility of a comeback that had seemed impossible just minutes earlier was becoming real. Finally, in the second minute of injury time, Enzo Fernández turned hope into certainty: he received a cross on the counterattack from Lautaro Martínez and scored the goal to make it 3-2, thus completing the historic comeback.
From then on, Egypt had no answers and the score remained unchanged until the final whistle. Argentina thus advances to the quarter-finals, where they will face the winner of the match between Colombia and Switzerland. At the end of the match, Messi was welcomed by his teammates as a hero, having led the team in one of the most sensational comebacks in World Cup history.
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The countdown to the 2026 FIFA World Cup has officially begun. The event, which will take place in three countries for the first time, will attract the attention of millions of football fans.