Three in Eleven: Messi's 21st World Cup Goal Crowns the Greatest Argentina Comeback of the Tournament
Trailing 2-0 deep in the second half and having missed a first-half penalty, Argentina scored three times in eleven minutes — Lionel Messi's volleyed equaliser his 21st career World Cup goal — to beat Egypt 3-2 and reach the quarter-finals.
⚽ Play today's FootWord while you read — freeYasser Ibrahim headed Egypt in front after 15 minutes and Messi missed a penalty in the 21st, and by the time Ziko added a second goal for Egypt deep in the second half, the argument for Argentina going out of their own World Cup was difficult to dismiss. The reigning champions, two goals down, their talisman having missed from the spot, were heading home. Then, with eleven minutes left, Lionel Messi picked up the ball on the right flank.
His cross was whipped in with pace and precision, and Cristian Romero rose at the back post to head it home — 1-2, 79th minute. The comeback had begun. Four minutes later Messi received a pass inside the box, turned onto his left foot, and struck a volley that clipped the underside of the crossbar and bounced into the net. Argentina 2-2. It was his 21st FIFA World Cup career goal — the highest tally any player has ever reached, extended once more by the very player who set it.
The winner came from Enzo Fernández. Lautaro Martínez drove across the face of goal, cutting a low pass into the centre of the box, and Fernández arrived at the back post to slide it in. Three goals in eleven minutes. Argentina 3-2 Egypt. The stadium, which had been raucous with Egyptian noise moments earlier, was stunned into a different kind of noise entirely.
The statistics of the evening go beyond the scoreline. Messi's delivery for Romero's opener was his ninth career World Cup assist — the most in the history of the tournament, a record that now belongs to him alone. He leads the Golden Boot on eight goals. He has scored in nine consecutive World Cup appearances. Argentina face Switzerland in the quarter-final. At 38, playing his fifth and final World Cup, Lionel Messi is producing numbers that may never be replicated.
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