Messi Inspires Late Comeback as Argentina Beat Egypt 3–2 in Atlanta

Argentina beat Egypt 3–2 at Atlanta Stadium to reach the World Cup quarter-finals after the latest dramatic comeback of their title defence. Yasser Ibrahim headed in from Marwan Attia's cross on 15 minutes and Mostafa Zico tapped in from Haissem Hassan's delivery on 67 minutes — either side of Lionel Messi having a first-half penalty saved by Mostafa Shobeir — before the holders trailed 2–0 with 11 minutes remaining in front of 68,239 fans.

Cristian Romero headed in from Messi's cross on 79 minutes and Messi smashed the equaliser off the crossbar four minutes later to score in a ninth consecutive World Cup match. Enzo Fernández completed the turnaround with a header from Lautaro Martínez's cross in the second minute of stoppage time as Argentina finished with 64% possession, 19 shots and seven on target to Egypt's five and two. Hamdy Fathy, Shobeir, Attia and Hassan were booked late on as Egypt's remarkable run ended one goal short.

Argentina advance to face Switzerland in Kansas City on Saturday after the Swiss beat Colombia on penalties in Vancouver. Egypt bow out as the second African nation to reach the last 16 at this expanded World Cup, having pushed the reigning champions closer to elimination than any side since their 2–1 group-stage win over Austria.