Yesterday Argentina vs Egypt match result: What happened in FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 clash headlined by Messi?

Lionel Messi led a stunning late fightback as Argentina defeated Egypt 3-2 to reach the FIFA World Cup 2026 quarterfinals on Tuesday, as the reigning champions recovered from a two-goal deficit to escape a monumental upset. 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.

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 started the comeback.

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 then nodded in a sensational winner in the second minute of time added on to finally break Egypt's resistance.

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. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was unable to hide his emotions after the match.

"I can't look up, I'm sorry. I'm really emotional right now," Scaloni said after the game. “What a group of players, man. That's it, I've got to go.” Argentina will now face the winner of Tuesday's clash in Vancouver between Switzerland or Colombia in the quarterfinals.

Lionel Messi regains lead in Golden Boot race

Messi scored his eighth goal of this year's World Cup, extending his scoring streak to nine consecutive games for Argentina and moving to the top of a tight Golden Boot race. Messi has now scored in a record nine consecutive World Cup matches dating back to Argentina's title run in 2022. The one against Egypt marked Messi's 13th in that nine-game span.

In the race for his first Golden Boot, Messi entered Tuesday's match even with France's Kylian Mbappe and Norway's Erling Haaland at seven goals each. Mbappé held the tiebreaker with two assists. England's Harry Kane is also in the running with six goals.

The goal also gave Messi a two-goal lead over Mbappé on the all-time World Cup goal leaderboard. Messi finished second in the Golden Boot race behind Mbappé in 2022 with seven goals while leading Argentina to the title. He tied for third with four goals in 2014.

Get all updates from FIFA World Cup 2026 here, along with FIFA World Cup 2026 Complete Schedule and FIFA World Cup 2026 Points Table.