Argentina mount astonishing late comeback to break Egypt hearts and reach quarter-finals

After a cagey start, the Pharaohs took a shock lead with their first shot of the contest, as Yasser Ibrahim powered home a 15th-minute header from a well-worked corner routine.

But after the centre-back scored at one end, a forward found himself defending at the other, and a clumsy challenge from Haissem Hassan gave La Albiceleste a golden opportunity to quickly draw level from the spot.

However, Mostafa Shobeir made his second penalty save of the tournament, with Messi chalking up a rather more unwanted second failure from 12 yards (and a fourth of his WC career).

The Argentine pressure continued unabated, and Alexis Mac Allister had the next big chance to restore parity, as his close-range header was repelled by the impressive Shobeir.

Messi then came within inches of making amends for his miss, with his free-kick just lacking the bend to sneak inside the post, instead going behind via the woodwork. 

Julián Alvarez looked certain to deliver the equaliser shortly before the break, latching onto a Nicolás Tagliafico cross, only for Shobeir to come up trumps once again with an exceptional reaction save.

As expected, there was more one-way traffic after the restart, although only a soft foul given against Mohamed Salah stopped the erstwhile Liverpool man from dashing through on goal.

La Albiceleste did not learn from this looming counter-attacking threat, and a beautiful outside-of-the-boot pass from Salah set Mostafa Ziko away for what looked to be a remarkable second goal for Egypt, before a VAR intervention for a foul in the build-up offered a much-needed reprieve.

Yet Argentina simply would not heed the warning, and Egypt eventually doubled their lead with a goal that was almost a carbon copy of the one they saw disallowed. Salah was instrumental in the build-up again, picking out Hassan, whose square ball gave Ziko his big moment at last. 

After plenty of huffing and puffing, Cristian Romero halved the deficit in the 79th minute, connecting with Messi’s perfect delivery to set up a grandstand finish.

Messi almost turned provider again in spectacular style, weaving through bodies to pick out Lautaro Martínez, but the Inter Milan striker spurned the golden chance.

Instead, as it always does, the task fell to Messi himself, and his effort from the edge of the box was simply too powerful for Shobeir to keep out, marking his ninth successive scoring appearance at a WC. 

Neither team seemed keen to settle for extra time, which made for a remarkably open finale. Into injury time, Egypt felt as though they should have had a penalty, before Martínez broke into acres of space and crossed for Enzo Fernández, who headed home the most dramatic of winning goals. 

Having now survived successive scares, Argentina still have a chance to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to defend a WC title, and will face either Switzerland or Colombia next.

Egypt will wonder how on earth they let this slip so emphatically, falling to their second defeat in nine internationals in the most unlikely of circumstances.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Lionel Messi (Argentina)

See all the stats from the match here