Magical Messi-led comeback shadowed in controversy

A heroic, come-from-behind 3-2 victory catalyzed by Argentinian icon Lionel Messi was marred by a slew of suspicious refereeing, spoiling an otherwise fantastic match. French official Francois Letexier first drew the ire of the entire Egyptian national team after a VAR review wiped away a 58th minute goal by Mostafa Ziko due to a foul very early in the build up. Their frustration crescendoed after Argentinian midfielder Enzo Fernandez headed in a late winner, captain Mo Salah pleading with Letexier to look at VAR for a foul they believed their opponents had committed before the goal. Coach Hossam Hassan and another Egypt staff member were booked on the touchline after furiously signalling for the referee, Messi having wandered over to exchange a few words following his team’s celebration. It was a heartbreaking finish for the Egyptians, having taken a shocking 2-0 lead thanks to an early headed goal from Yasser Ibrahim and a 67th-minute strike from Ziko. Argentina, despite the controversy, impressively completed the comeback within just the final eleven minutes plus stoppage time of the match. Goals from Cristian Romero in the 79th (assisted by Messi) and the little magic man in the 83rd levelled the scoreline—Fernandez heading home the winner off a Lautaro Martinez cross in stoppage time. It was an emotional journey for the reigning world champions, picking themselves up by their bootstraps to survive a second knockout match in a row. Messi shed tears after the final whistle blew, Argentina scraping by to set up a quarterfinal fixture against the winner of Colombia/Switzerland.

A trio of changes by Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni saw Facundo Medina, Thiago Almada and Lautaro Martinez all benched—Nicolas Tagliafico, Leandro Paredes and Julian Alvarez getting the starting nod in their place. Scaloni switched from the usual 4-4-2 formation to a 4-1-3-2 look, Paredes lying deep in a defensive midfield role. As for the Pharoahs, only two changes: Haissem Hassan replaced Omar Marmoush in wide midfield and Mohaned Lasheen slotted in for Hamdy Fathy at the center of the park.

Despite a plethora of familiar blue and white-striped shirts packing the Atlanta stadium, the match would get off to a disastrous start for the Argentina faithful in attendance. Their passionate singing would trail away after neither side failed to get into much of a rhythm in the opening quarter hour. Egypt midfielder Emam Ashour soon sparked the match’s first chance, cornered by opponents Alvarez and Rodrigo De Paul on the right wing. Laying the ball off for a trailing Marwan Attia, the Egyptian hit a cross first time into the box, center back Yassir Ibrahim skying over the defense to head home the opener. For the first time all tournament—Argentina trailed first.

Within minutes, Egypt handed their opponents a lifeline. After Enzo Fernandez played the overlapping Tagliafico into the left side of the 18-yard box on a lofted through ball, midfielder Hassan brought him to ground with a mistimed challenge. The referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot, Messi stepping up to try and erase the memory of his earlier tournament penalty miss against Austria. The all-time great looked to place the ball down the right side of the goal—but Egypt keeper Mostafa Shobeir swiftly dealt with the shot, parrying it away. Messi had been denied at the spot again, Argentina still trailing.

Rodrigo De Paul served up a ball on a platter for teammate Alexic Mac Allister in the 28th minute, the latter’s powerful header from the center of the box unfortunately directed straight towards Shobeir who parried it out of the danger zone. Messi would draw an intriguing free-kick opportunity just past the half-hour mark, his left-footed effort splashing into the side netting—unable to sneak inside the left corner of the goal. The remainder of the first 45 remained one-way traffic for the Argentines. Messi had another go in the 38th from distance, scuffing his shot into the stands after Egypt was dispossessed inside their own half. Moments later, Tagliafico squared a pass across goal for Alvarez, Shobeir miraculously making a full extension to deny his tap-in heading for the bottom-left corner. As the referee blew his whistle for halftime, the Egyptians knelt down onto the pitch and kissed the ground, perhaps thanking a higher power for their 1-0 lead.

Ashour would be forced off for Hamdy Fathy as play resumed due to an injury late in the first half, the midfielder visibly struggling as the period came to a close. Egypt adapted well out of the break to slow the Argentinian momentum, only a poor long-range effort from Rodrigo De Paul threatening the goal early on in the second 45—Shobeir collecting it in his grasp without issue.

Just before the match reached the hour mark, the Pharoahs looked like they had extended their lead. After Argentina turned the ball over deep inside the attacking third, Haissem Hassan sprung a quick counter starting all the way back by his own corner flag. Crossing the halfway line, Hassan passed it over to Salah, venturing into the final third. Salah would play Ziko in behind towards the far side of the area, slotting a diagonal effort underneath opposing keeper Emi Martinez for the goal. The world champions were 2-nil down, incredibly. That is, until celebrations died down and the referee surprised the masses by heading to the monitor. This was no debate about offside—Francois Letexier was looking at a foul that happened before Hassan’s run even began. He would soon rule the infraction impacted the build-up play, denying the goal. Argentina could exhale, suddenly awarded a free kick in the spot near the corner flag where Egypt’s counter attack began. Messi sent the ball in towards Mac Allister, flicking it on at the near post and forcing a block out for a corner—what a two-goal swing that could have been. Scaloni soon brought on Lautaro Martinez for De Paul and Nico Gonzales for Tagliafico, two additional attacking threats to help the comeback effort.

After a 67th-minute corner was headed out of the Egyptian area, Mo Salah didn’t have a foul in the build-up to worry about this time. Pushing up the field in a 2v3 transition, the skipper rolled a pass over to the right for a trailing Hassan. Beating his man Enzo Fernandez off the dribble, Hassan sprinted towards the right endline to play a ball across. Mostafa Ziko, making a run from his own half into the box at the perfect time, would get on the end of the cross and slot it home—Egypt finally had their well-deserved 2-0 lead. Argentina, winless in all 13 World Cup matches they’ve faced a two-goal deficit in, were on the ropes.

Both sides went for a change after the second-half hydration break concluded, Egypt taking second-goal assistee Hassan off for Mahmoud Trezeguet while Argentina swapped fullbacks—Gonzalo Montiel entering for Nahuel Molina. It was panic time for the reigning World Cup trophyholders, just a quarter-hour to save their tournament hopes (and Messi’s swansong). Everybody on the Egyptian side but Salah sunk deep inside their own box, hoping they could park the bus long enough to see them through.

In the 79th minute, Messi finally made his mark. Floating a left-footed inswinger inches over the head of Egypt center back Rami Rabia, the ball found the head of Argentine center back Cristian Romero—serving as makeshift center forward—directing it into the net despite Shobeir getting a touch. The tens of thousands of Messi shirts around the Atlanta stadium rose to their feet as their star man’s assist had shrunk the Egypt lead back to a single goal.

Hossam Hassan brought Omar Marmoush in for Ziko following the goal, hoping the Manchester City forward could perhaps rebuild the Egypt advantage. A world-class run by Messi in the 82nd minute nearly proved fatal for the defense, the magician somehow sneaking past multiple defenders towards the right byline before he somehow poked the ball across. Substitute Lautaro Martinez managed to catch it with a diving header from point-blank range—but it heartbreakingly bounded wide of the right post.

No issue for Messi, he would find the leveller within 60 seconds. Looking to deliver another left-footed inswinger from the right wing, his cross took a deflection, falling out of the sky near Martinez at the back post. The substitute managed to get an overhead kick on the ball, sending it across goal towards Montiel. It was just a bit behind the fellow sub, forced to rapidly pivot his body around to catch the Trionda with his left boot. Amidst the chaos, Messi snuck into the area, timing his meandering perfectly as Montiel laid off a light pass for the legend to strike—and strike it well he did. Putting his laces through the ball brilliantly, Messi’s powerful left-footer was too much for Shobeir, rocketing through his hands and into the goal. It only took four minutes for Argentina to draw level, Messi overcome with fiery joy as he fist-pumped into the air with his ensuing celebration.

The script seemed perfectly written for a late Argentine winner. With a minute to go until stoppage time, Shobeir delayed the inevitable, parrying away a right-wing set-piece delivery from Messi before an alert Mac Allister could pounce on the ball.

Egypt would come painfully close to rewriting history in the first minute of stoppage time. Intercepting a Messi pass in the attacking third, Mo Salah turned upfield and sprung a scrumptious-looking counter, the Pharoahs essentially running a 3-on-2 fastbreak. Oddly, the substitute Marmoush would sprint ahead in the center circle to take the ball off Salah, both continuing their runs into the Argentine half. With Trezeguet uncovered to his left and Salah to his right, just one man to beat, Marmoush completely sold. Waiting too long to make the pass towards Trezeguet, a possible goal-saving challenge from Argentina’s Parades ended the chance.

Misery and fury swept across the Egyptian side within minutes. After Julian Alvarez stole the ball off Salah at the edge of the Argentine area, the striker quickly powered a pass forward to unleash teammate Martinez down the right side of the attacking third. With Enzo Fernandez running into the box and just a single man marking him, Martinez took his time to pick out the midfielder beautifully with a high cross. Dropping right onto his head, Fernandez sent the Trionda into the right corner of the goal, the entire Argentine bench—coach Lional Scaloni alike—spilling out onto the pitch to celebrate.

Salah was aghast at the referee, claiming Alvarez had chopped him down while dispossessing him. Additionally, multiple Egyptian players pleaded with Letexier for a VAR review on a possible foul away from the play—replay showing Alexic Mac Allister tugging Hamdy Fathy’s shirt inside the 18-yard box. It was a group effort to appeal the officials, both Fathy and Shobeir receiving yellow cards for their dissent. While the entire staff began to hurl barbs at the refs, Messi walked over to the touchline and appeared to exchange words with Egypt boss Hassan. While we’ll never what was said, Hassan soon put his hands into a cross symbol, a FIFA prodecure meant to flag and limit racist attacks. Argentine fans in the stands appeared to taunt Hassan—an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights—with an Israeli flag, adding more fuel to the fire.

The chaos would seem to suck any remaining life out of Egypt, the match tuckering out without any further sight of goal. This one was ova.

Argentina, man, how do they do it? There is only one country in recent World Cup history that constantly manages to eke out nail-biters—and they have one but one man to thank: Lionel Messi. The all-time great aside, it was a fantastic performance from midfielders Paredes and Enzo Fernandez today, the latter netting the winner after an impressive box-to-box showing. Parades, saving a scary late Egyptian chance, looked well up to the task in defensive midfield. Julian Alvarez put in his best shift of the tournament so far at striker (the bar is low so he doesn’t get his name put in bold), Lautaro Martinez providing the winning assist in attack off the bench. The rest of the Argentine lineup was rather hit-or-miss, aside from center back Cristian Romero having tucked in the opening goal for his country. Scaloni doesn’t seem to be certain on his fullbacks, Molina and Tagliafico both exiting as Medina and Montiel were given another trial. It remains to be seen whether Argentina can recapture their confident dominance from the group stage, a quarterfinal in Kansas City looming against two possible competent opponents: Switzerland or Colombia.

Egypt played well for over three quarters of the match, keeper Shobeir able to keep the Argentines at bay with four wonderful saves before the dam burst. For the Pharoahs, despite building an impressive—and shocking—two-goal advantage, their defense let them down across the final 15 minutes of the match. Undoing a wonderful serious of counters from Mo Salah, goalscorer Ziko and assistee Haissem Hassan, defenders Rabia and Karim Hafez’s late errors allowed Argentina to get the goals they needed—choking the match away in the process. Perhaps defensive substitutes should have been prioritized over the likes of Trezeguet and Marmoush, the latter spoiling the only chance Egypt had at stealing the match late. To the Egyptians credit, they didn’t wait as long as Senegal did before conceding a two-goal lead. Regardless, they bow out of the World Cup in a quite frustrating matter, their coach Hassan claiming he’ll never watch the tournament again. Yikes.

Lionel Messi for almost singlehandedly willing his country to a win. This man cannot be stopped in even the most dire of situations.

Messi’s equalizer—just a world-class strike of the ball amidst a crowded 18-yard box. What a fantastic celebration to follow, as well, we don’t see Messi get as fired up as he did today.

As a reminder, the match card reflects my thoughts on the entire fixture as a whole—and is comprised of the following:

Man of the Match: The man of the match will be awarded card’s player face/headshot

Aura (AURA): How much “aura” or unique atmosphere/feel that the match had

Goals (GOL): A rating of the game’s quality of goals

Entertainment (ENMT): Was the game engaging, lively, memorable?

Memes (LOL): Did the game have any funny/memeable moments?

Rewatchability (RWD): Would I watch this match again—is it worth doing so?

Emotional Investment (EMO): A rating based on how attached I was, or became, to the match

Beyond heartbroken I couldn’t make it down to Atlanta to watch this match. Thanks for jacking the ticket prices up so high, Gianni. You can preach to me all you want about supply and demand—there is no reason a Round of 16 match should be anything above a $500 get-in.