In the 19th minute, Argentina was awarded a penalty after Nicolas Tagliafico rushed down to receive a pass on the left wing before being fouled by defender Hassan in the penalty area. The referee immediately pointed to the 11m spot.
From the penalty spot, Messi was expected to help Argentina equalize the score. However, the Argentine captain's shot could not beat goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir, who accurately dived to save successfully.
This is the second time Messi has missed a penalty at the 2026 World Cup, after failing to beat the Austrian national team goalkeeper in the group stage.
According to statistics, the 39-year-old striker became the first player in World Cup history to miss two penalties in the same tournament.
Not stopping there, Messi also increased the total number of penalty misses in the World Cup finals to 4, the most in the history of the tournament.
The performance on the 11m spot of the Argentine superstar recently is also not really impressive. In all competitions, Messi has taken 6 recent penalties but only succeeded 2 times, meaning he missed up to 4 scoring opportunities from 11m distance.
However, Messi is still one of the most successful players in football history with 8 Golden Balls and a series of collective and individual titles. However, the above statistics show that his penalty finishing ability is showing signs of decline at the 2026 World Cup.
