By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
Defending champions Argentina has survived a massive scare to defeat Egypt 3-2 in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta.
Egypt shocked the world champions by taking a 2-0 lead. Yasser Ibrahim headed the Pharaohs in front in the 15th minute, and Mostafa Zico doubled the advantage in the 67th minute after a swift counter-attack.
With elimination looming, Argentina roared back in the final 15 minutes. Cristian Romero pulled one back in the 79th minute with a header from a Lionel Messi cross.
Messi then made up for an earlier missed penalty by smashing home a volley in the 83rd minute to level the score at 2-2. The goal was Messi’s 21st at World Cups, extending his tournament record.
Enzo Fernandez completed the dramatic turnaround, heading the winner three minutes into stoppage time from another Messi cross to send Argentina through to the quarter-finals.
The result sends Argentina into the last eight, where they will face the winner of Switzerland and Colombia on Saturday in Kansas City. Egypt’s historic run ends after reaching the knockout stage for the first time and beating Australia on penalties in the Round of 32.
