Argentina Survives Egypt’s Scare to Avoid Repeat of Falling to African Opposition 30 Years After Atlanta ‘96

Duro Ikhazuagbe

History was barely 10 minutes away from about to be  repeated in Atlanta yesterday but providence saved Argentina the blushes of losing to another African opposition, 30 years after the Albiceleste were beaten by Nigeria’s Dream Team in the Men’s Football event final of the 1996 Olympic Games.

Although not the championship match, the Last 16 game of the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup was clearly in favour of Egypt’s Pharaohs who were two goals up with barely 10 minutes to regulation time. Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico gave the Pharaohs the two goals edge. Egyptians fans and their admirers were already celebrating knocking out the cup holders from the tournament. 

The Argentines’ iconic talisman, Lionel Messi, was looking desolate and on the verge of possibly ending his international career with defeat with his teammates in the Last 16 stage.

But Christian Romero conjured up a masterclass, pulling back one of the goals.Five minutes later, Messi who missed a first-half penalty, fired the equaliser to set up a nail-biting finish.

Chelsea midfielder, Enzo Fernandez, completed the comeback two minutes into injury time. He headed home Lautaro Martinez’s cross to set up a quarter-final tie against Switzerland who defeated Colombia 4-3 in penalty shootouts after regulation and extra time deadlocked goalless last night.

The winner came on the counter attack just moments after Egypt felt they had been denied a penalty for a trip on Mohamed Salah, to the fury of many on their bench.

It was impossible not to feel for Egypt, who had not won a World Cup match prior to this tournament but were minutes away from eliminating the three-time world champions in Atlanta.

Victors over Australia in the round of 32, the Pharaohs sent their fans into ecstasy on 15 minutes when Ibrahim outjumped Lisandro Martinez to nod Marwan Attia’s cross into the bottom corner.

But Argentina – and tournament top scorer Messi  (on 8 goals now) – were given a golden opportunity to restore parity when Haissem Hassan tripped Nicolas Tagliafico inside the penalty area five minutes later.

Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir, however, produced a magnificent save to deny the 39-year-old, who also had a penalty saved in a 2-0 victory over Austria in the group stage.

Shobeir was outstanding in the first half, saving well from Alexis Mac Allister’s header before delivering a superb one-handed stop from Julian Alvarez’s goal-bound effort three minutes before the interval.

Zico had a goal disallowed by the video assistant referee shortly before the hour mark, but the 29-year-old stroked home Hassan’s delivery midway through the second period to leave Egypt on the brink of an unlikely quarter-final spot.

Argentina had created precious little up to that point, but Romero’s 79th-minute header sparked Lionel Scaloni’s team into life before Messi slammed home his 21st World Cup goal to set up a frantic conclusion to a pulsating contest.

Fernandez had the final say, his perfectly placed header completing one of the great World Cup recoveries with the 3,000th goal in tournament history.

RESULTS 

Argentina 3-2 Egypt 

Switzerland 0-0 Colombia

( 4-3 penalty shootouts)

QUARTER-FINAL FIXTURES 

THURSDAY 

France v Morocco (9pm)

FRIDAY

Spain v Belgium (8pm)

SATURDAY 

Norway v  England (10pm)

SUNDAY

Argentina v Switzerland  (2am)