Kansas City (AFP) – Lionel Messi led a stunning late fightback as Argentina defeated Egypt 3-2 to reach the World Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday, the reigning champions recovering from a two-goal deficit to escape a monumental upset. Egypt looked poised to score a famous victory at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium after goals from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico left them 2-0 up with just 11 minutes of normal time remaining.
But Cristian Romero’s 79th-minute header from a pinpoint Messi cross gave the defending champions a lifeline at 2-1. Four minutes later, Messi volleyed in a superb equaliser — his eighth goal of the tournament — to make it 2-2 and spark wild celebrations among the huge contingent of Argentina fans in the 68,239 crowd. With extra-time looming, Enzo Fernandez nodded in a sensational winner in the second minute of time added on to finally break Egypt’s resistance.
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“Being able to experience moments like this, honestly, I thank God, I’m privileged,” Fernandez said afterwards. “I want to highlight my team-mates – we have a phenomenal group, a group that never gives up no matter the difficulties and adversity. We’re always together,” the Chelsea midfielder added. Fernandez’s goal capped what had been an epic contest, which saw Messi miss a first-half penalty for the second time this tournament, and Egypt have a second-half goal ruled out in a controversial VAR decision.
“We produced a great performance against the world champions,” Egypt goalscorer Zico said. “I don’t know what happened in the second half. Strange things happened that everyone saw. It was as clear as the sun in broad daylight.” The win was another nailbiting close shave for Argentina, who had been taken to the wire by Cape Verde in an extra-time thriller in the last 32 on Friday.
Argentina will now face the winner of Tuesday’s clash in Vancouver between Switzerland or Colombia in the quarter-finals. Colombia, supported by hordes of passionate yellow-clad fans, have been tipped as dark horses for the tournament. Nestor Lorenzo’s men have conceded just one goal so far and boast the attacking prowess of Luis Diaz and 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez. Switzerland have not reached the quarter-finals since 1954, when they hosted the tournament, but impressed in a 2-0 win against Algeria in the last 32.
Argentina are the latest team into the quarter-finals after Spain and Belgium booked their tickets to the last eight on Monday. Spain ended Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup dream by beating Portugal 1-0 while Belgium crushed the United States 4-1. Defeat for Mauricio Pochettino’s men means none of the host nations remain in the 2026 tournament following the earlier exits of Canada and Mexico.
The build-up to the game in Seattle was overshadowed by controversy after forward Folarin Balogun was cleared to play despite being sent off against Bosnia and Herzegovina last week. It emerged that the bombshell ruling followed a personal call by President Donald Trump to FIFA chief Gianni Infantino urging him to review Balogun’s punishment. Javier Tebas, the president of the Spanish football federation, on Tuesday attacked the reprieve. Posting on social media, Tebas called the decision “the tip of the iceberg of a governance model that has been eroding the credibility of FIFA and football in general for many years.”
He said that while the football world could see what was happening, “far too many prefer to maintain a complicit silence.” The United States Soccer Federation, meanwhile, indicated that US coach Pochettino might stay on as the team’s boss, saying in a statement on Tuesday that discussions with the Argentine were ongoing. “We had positive conversations with Mauricio before the World Cup about the future,” US Soccer said in a statement. “We agreed we would continue those conversations following a chance to rest and reflect post World Cup.”
© 2024 AFP
