Argentina kept the World Cup title defence alive with a dramatic 3-2 win over Egypt, overturning a 2-0 deficit in the last 16. Late goals from Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez avoided an early exit and set up a quarter-final meeting with Switzerland.

The comeback rewrote tournament history. Argentina became the first side to win a World Cup match in normal time after trailing by two goals as late as the 78th minute. Opta data showed their win probability stood at just 0.6 per cent when Romero scored to make it 2-1.

Head coach Lionel Scaloni stressed that confidence inside the camp never dropped, even at 2-0 down. I always felt the game was on our side. Beyond the result, I don’t think the team was playing badly. We had chances, Scaloni told reporters when reflecting on the swing in momentum.

Scaloni compared the Egypt test with earlier group play. Against Cape Verde it was worse, we really looked in trouble. Today, even when it was 0-2, the feeling was that at some point we would get a chance and could turn it around. Against Egypt, we played totally different soccer.

Egypt had pushed Argentina to the brink of elimination. Yasser Ibrahim struck first with a 15th-minute header, then Mostafa Zico doubled the advantage on 67 minutes, beating Emiliano Martinez after having an earlier effort disallowed by VAR for offside, leaving the defending champions facing a huge shock.

Argentina’s response came in a frantic final spell. Romero headed in Messi’s cross on 79 minutes to halve the deficit. Four minutes later, Messi hammered the equaliser in off the crossbar. Deep into stoppage time, Julian Alvarez released Lautaro Martinez, whose cross was nodded in by Fernandez.

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Fernandez’s goal carried extra weight in World Cup history. It was officially listed as the 3,000th strike in the competition. Timed at 91:55, it also became the latest winning goal scored by an Argentina player in normal time at a World Cup match, adding further context to the turnaround.

Argentina World Cup numbers highlight Messi influence

Messi had earlier missed a major opportunity to change the match. Mostafa Shobeir saved Messi’s 21st-minute penalty, meaning Messi became the only player, excluding shootouts, to fail to convert two or more penalties at a single World Cup, after an earlier miss against Austria in the group stage.

Despite that, Messi again shaped the contest. The captain finished with one goal and one assist and set several records. Messi became the first player to score in six successive World Cup knockout matches, extended the all-time World Cup scoring record to 21 goals, and reached eight goals at this tournament.

That tally is the highest by any player after a team’s first five matches at a single World Cup since Germany’s Gerd Muller scored ten in 1970. Scaloni underlined what such nights mean to Messi. I’m convinced that he plays soccer for moments like this… For him to feel these emotions at this stage of his career is hard to explain, Scaloni said.

Scaloni added that the performance went beyond statistics. It was an unforgettable moment. Whatever happens from here on, this team gives me the feeling that it never stops believing, even when everything is going against it. The coach highlighted belief as the squad’s key trait during the title defence.