For most of Tuesday's match in Atlanta, Argentina were the ones in trouble. Then, as he has so often, Lionel Messi decided otherwise. Trailing Egypt 2-0 and staring at elimination, Argentina scored three times late to win 3-2 and reach the World Cup quarterfinals, ESPN reported.
Egypt's lead, and Salah's threat
Egypt, marshaled by Mohamed Salah, had played the better football for long stretches and built a two-goal cushion that looked, for a time, like it might hold. Argentina could not find a way through, and Messi even missed a penalty earlier in the game, ESPN reported. The defending champions were within sight of the exit.
The comeback
The turn came late and fast. Messi set up Cristian Romero to pull one back, then scored the equalizer himself in the 84th minute, before Enzo Fernández completed the comeback with the winning goal, ESPN reported. Three goals in the closing stretch flipped a match Egypt had controlled.
The video-review flashpoints
Egypt left feeling wronged. A goal that would have counted for them was ruled out after a video review found a foul in the buildup, and Egypt's side argued that a shirt-pull in the area went unpunished before Argentina's decisive goal, ESPN reported. Egypt's camp bemoaned what it saw as an injustice in how the calls were applied, a grievance likely to follow the result.
Messi, again
For Messi, it was another tournament in which he has been Argentina's difference. He has been at the center of their run, and the match underscored how much the champions still lean on him, as ESPN noted. Argentina now advance to face Switzerland, which reached the quarterfinals by beating Colombia on penalties, with Egypt left to wonder how a two-goal lead slipped away in the space of a few minutes.
