Messi Leads Argentina From 2-0 Down As Defending Champs Reach World Cup Quarters

Messi inspires Argentina's stunning comeback to beat Egypt

Argentina were 2-0 down with 11 minutes left but rallied to beat Egypt 3-2 thanks to Messi and a 90th-minute winner from Enzo Fernandez.

Argentina avoid major upset with last-gasp comeback win against Egypt...

Lionel Messi sparked a dramatic late comeback as Argentina beat Egypt 3-2 to book a spot in the World Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday. The defending champions came back from 2-0 down to avoid what would have been a huge upset.

Egypt were on course for a historic win at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium after Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico put them 2-0 up with 11 minutes left in normal time.

Cristian Romero gave the defending champions hope in the 79th minute, heading home a perfect Messi delivery to make it 2-1.

Four minutes later Messi struck a brilliant volley for his 8th goal of the tournament, leveling it at 2-2 and sending the 68,239 crowd - packed with Argentina supporters - into chaos.

With extra time looking inevitable, Enzo Fernandez broke Egypt’s hearts, powering in a header in the 2nd minute of stoppage time for a dramatic 3-2 winner.

“Being able to experience moments like this, honestly, I thank God, I'm privileged,” Fernandez said afterwards.

“I want to highlight my teammates - 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 winner wrapped up a wild match that also saw Messi miss his second penalty of the tournament in the first half, and Egypt have a second-half goal disallowed after a contentious VAR review.

The goal sealed an epic game that included a missed first-half penalty from Messi - his second of the World Cup - and a late Egypt strike ruled out by VAR in a controversial call.

“We produced a great performance against the world champions,” Egypt goalscorer Zico said.

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“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.” he added.

It was another escape for Argentina, who were pushed to the limit by Cape Verde in an extra-time thriller in the Round of 32 on Friday.

The victory marked yet another tight call for Argentina, after they needed extra time to get past Cape Verde last Friday.

Argentina once again flirted with disaster - they’d only survived Cape Verde in extra time during Friday’s last-32 clash.