Argentina score three in 13 minutes to stun Egypt and reach the quarter-finals

For 75 minutes in Atlanta, Argentina looked like a defending champion on its way out. Two goals down to a fearless Egypt side and with Lionel Messi having already spurned a first-half penalty, the holders were staring at the exit. Then the game turned inside out. Three goals in the closing 13 minutes, the last of them an Enzo Fernandez header deep in stoppage time, sent Argentina through 3-2 and into the World Cup quarter-finals, and left Egypt to reckon with one of the cruellest last-16 exits the tournament has produced.

Egypt’s dream start, and a missed penalty

Egypt arrived at Mercedes-Benz Stadium with nothing to lose and played that way from the whistle. Yasser Ibrahim gave them the lead in the 15th minute, and the pressure on Argentina only grew moments later. Messi stepped up for a penalty in the 21st minute with the chance to level, but Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir read it well and pushed the effort away. It was Messi’s second penalty miss of this World Cup, and for a long stretch it looked like it might define Argentina’s afternoon.

Egypt did not sit back and protect a one-goal cushion. Mostafa Zico stretched the lead to 2-0 in the 67th minute, and the Pharaohs sensed the shock was on. With a little over 20 minutes left, Argentina had created little and looked short of ideas.

Romero lights the fuse

The comeback started with Messi’s delivery and a centre-back’s leap. Cristian Romero rose to meet a Messi cross and headed Argentina back into the tie in the 79th minute, and suddenly a game that had drifted away from the champions had a pulse again. The goal changed everything about how Argentina attacked; the anxiety lifted and the runners started arriving in the box.

Four minutes later, Messi answered his earlier miss in the way only he tends to, lashing a first-time strike past Shobeir to make it 2-2 in the 83rd minute. It was his eighth goal of the tournament, keeping him clear at the top of the scoring charts, and it flipped the momentum entirely. From two down and fading, Argentina were now the side pushing for a winner.

Enzo Fernandez breaks Egyptian hearts

The winner came in the second minute of stoppage time. A cross was floated to the far post and Enzo Fernandez met it with a header that looped beyond Shobeir and into the corner, sparking wild scenes on the Argentina bench. Egypt, who had led for more than an hour and defended so bravely, had nothing left to give in the seconds that remained.

The numbers tell the story of how rare this recovery was. No team in World Cup history had previously won a knockout match in normal time after trailing by two goals as late as the 75th minute. It is the kind of escape that champions tend to remember at the end of tournaments, and it keeps Messi’s pursuit of another title alive when it was minutes from ending.

Argentina march on, Egypt go home proud

Argentina move into the quarter-finals, where they will face the winner of Switzerland and Colombia. Questions remain about a defence that was opened up twice and an attack that needed until the final quarter to click, but knockout football rewards survival above all else, and the holders have survived again.

For Egypt, the disappointment will sting for a long time. They matched and then bettered the champions for 75 minutes, took a two-goal lead into the closing stages, and still found a way to lose. It is a brutal way to bow out, but a run to the last 16 and an afternoon that had Argentina on the ropes is a marker of how far this side has come.

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