Argentina stuns Egypt with late comeback to reach quarterfinals

Argentina turned a 2-0 hole into a 3-2 victory over Egypt in Atlanta Stadium, scoring three times from the 79th minute onward to reach the World Cup quarterfinals. Cristian Romero started the surge in the 79th minute, Lionel Messi equalized four minutes later, and Enzo Fernández finished the comeback in second-half stoppage time.

For most of the second half, Egypt controlled the match and carried a two-goal lead with about 11 minutes left in regulation. That margin made the final stretch look less like a routine knockout advance than a warning about how exposed Argentina can become when the attack stalls and the game turns into a chase.

Messi’s goal kept him in the Golden Boot race and extended a remarkable run of scoring in knockout matches. ESPN said he scored in a record sixth straight World Cup knockout game, a marker that underscores how much Argentina continues to rely on him when the pressure rises and the margins narrow. FIFA’s match report credited Fernández with the dramatic winner that completed the escape.

Tom Brady, whose New England Patriots erased a 28-3 deficit against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI, said the Argentina comeback “might top 28-3.” The comparison captured the scale of the recovery, but it also sharpened the central question coming out of the match: did Argentina simply survive a bad night, or did Egypt expose a deeper fragility in a team that still depends on Messi to rescue it when control slips away?