World Cup: Argentina Break Egypt Hearts With Last-Gasp 3-2 Comeback Win

Messi goal and assist spark Argentina comeback

Lionel Messi inspired Argentina's fightback from two goals down to beat Egypt 3-2 and keep their hopes of defending the World Cup title alive.

Argentina fight back from 2-0 down to stun Egypt and keep World Cup defense alive. Fernandez's late header completes Argentina's epic comeback...

Lionel Messi dragged Argentina back from the edge with a late goal and an assist, as they recovered from 2-0 down to beat Egypt 3-2 and move into the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals.

Following a tight opening, Egypt struck first against the run of play. Yasser Ibrahim scored with their first attempt, heading in from a cleverly executed corner in the 15th minute.

But moments after Ibrahim scored, a forward was back defending. Haissem Hassan's clumsy challenge then handed Argentina a perfect chance to equalize from the penalty spot.

Mostafa Shobeir denied him though, making his second penalty save of the World Cup. It was also Messi's second missed penalty of the tournament, and the fourth of his World Cup career.

Argentina kept pushing and Alexis Mac Allister came closest next, but his header from close range was brilliantly saved by Shobeir.

Messi nearly made up for his penalty miss moments later. His free-kick clipped the post after narrowly missing the bend needed to curl inside.

Julian Alvarez looked set to level just before half-time after connecting with a Nicolás Tagliafico cross, but Shobeir pulled off another outstanding reaction save to keep Egypt ahead.

Argentina dominated possession again after half-time. Only a soft foul on Mohamed Salah prevented the former Liverpool star from breaking clear on goal.

Argentina failed to heed the warning on the counter. Salah then played a stunning outside-of-the-boot pass to release Mostafa Ziko, who looked to have made it 2-0. VAR stepped in though and ruled out the goal for a foul earlier in the move.

But Argentina didn’t learn their lesson. Egypt made it 2-0 with a goal almost identical to the disallowed one. Salah was involved again, finding Hassan, who squared for Ziko to finally get his goal.

After sustained pressure, Cristian Romero pulled one back in the 79th minute, heading home a perfect cross from Messi to set up a dramatic finale.

Messi almost created another in brilliant fashion, driving through the defense to find Lautaro Martínez, but the Inter Milan forward wasted the clear opportunity.

As it so often does, the job fell to Messi. He smashed a shot in from the edge of the box that Shobeir couldn't stop, extending his run to nine straight World Cup games with a goal.

Neither side wanted extra time, so the ending was wide open. Deep into added time, Egypt appealed for a penalty that wasn't given. Argentina broke instead, with Martínez finding space and crossing for Enzo Fernández to head in a dramatic winner.

After riding out two scares in a row, Argentina remain in the hunt to become the first team to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962. They will meet either Switzerland or Colombia in the quarter-finals.

Egypt will be left asking how they let it slip so badly, suffering just their second loss in nine games in the most heartbreaking fashion.