Argentina faced many difficulties against the African representative. Egypt opened the score in the 15th minute thanks to Yasser Ibrahim's header. In the 21st minute, Messi had a chance to equalize from the penalty spot but could not beat goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy. Stepping into the second half, Mostafa Ziko doubled the score for Egypt in the 67th minute.
In a 0-2 lead, Argentina strongly rose up. Cristian Romero narrowed the score to 1-2 in the 79th minute after Messi's assist. In the 84th minute, the Argentine captain scored to equalize 2-2 with a one-touch finish after the ball bounced out in the penalty area.
The drama was pushed to a climax in injury time when Enzo Fernandez headed in a goal in the 90+2 minute, completing a 3-2 comeback to bring Argentina to the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup.
With the assist for Romero, Messi raised the total number of assists in the World Cup finals to 9. He became the player with the most assists in the history of the tournament, surpassing the record of 8 assists of legend Diego Maradona.
The goal against Egypt also helped Messi continue to maintain his impressive scoring form at the 2026 World Cup. The 39-year-old striker has scored in all 5 matches of Argentina at the tournament, respectively against Algeria, Austria, Jordan, Cabo Verde and Egypt.
Despite missing a penalty in this match, Messi was still the factor that made the difference with a goal and an assist, making a great contribution to the rebound of the defending champion.
The performance against Egypt once again showed Messi's leading role in Argentina's journey to defend the World Cup crown. At the age of 39, the owner of the number 10 shirt is still a professional and spiritual support for the South American team at decisive moments.
