Lionel Messi inspired a dramatic Argentina comeback as the defending champions recovered from two goals down to defeat Egypt 3-2 and book their place in the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals.
Egypt stunned Argentina by taking an early lead through Yasser Ibrahim before Mostafa Ziko doubled the advantage in the second half, putting the North Africans on the brink of a famous victory.
Argentina responded through Cristian Romero before Messi levelled the match, scoring his eighth goal of the tournament and the 21st World Cup goal of his career. Enzo Fernández then completed the comeback with the winning goal to send Lionel Scaloni’s side into the last eight.
The victory, however, was overshadowed by angry protests from the Egyptian camp, which accused match officials of making key decisions in Argentina’s favour.
Egypt believed Ziko should have had an earlier goal stand after it was ruled out for a foul in the build-up, while players and staff were also furious that referee François Letexier did not award what they claimed was a foul on an Egyptian player moments before Fernández scored the decisive goal.
Following the match, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan launched a scathing attack, claiming his side had been denied a fair result and suggesting commercial interests influenced the outcome.
“It’s all about money. They want Messi to stay in the tournament,” Hassan said. “Many things happen in football because of interests. What happened was unfair. Egypt deserved to qualify. We were the better team.”
The former Egypt striker also said he would not watch another game at the tournament.
“We have suffered an injustice today. This is my way of speaking up. I am not going to watch another match in this tournament,” he said.
Goalscorer Mostafa Ziko echoed his coach’s frustrations, saying he could not understand why his earlier goal had been disallowed and claiming “everything went against us” after Egypt established a two-goal lead.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni, who became emotional after the final whistle, praised Messi’s resilience after the veteran forward recovered from having a first-half penalty saved by goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir.
“Messi missed a penalty but he asked for the ball again and kept driving the team forward,” Scaloni said. “I get goosebumps. This is who we are as Argentinians. We play with all our heart.”