Lionel Messi leads Argentina past Egypt in World Cup thriller

Lionel Messi led Argentina on a late run of three unanswered goals against Egypt Tuesday, bringing the defending champions one step closer to winning back-to-back FIFA World Cup titles.

Egypt had mounted a 2-0 lead until nearly 80 minutes into the game, before Argentina scored a trio of goals in the last 15 minutes. The final score was 3-2.

Messi scored in the 83rd minute, keeping him in the race for the Golden Boot, given to the World Cup's top scorer.

The broadcasters calling the match described the thriller between Argentina and Egypt as "a game for the ages" and "one of the great World Cup games."

The round of 16 matchup in Atlanta saw Egypt surprise the defending champions early on, jumping out to an early lead with a 15th minute goal from Yasser Ibrahim.

The upset seemed to further take shape when Egypt's Mostafa Ziko added on another goal in the 67th minute. Prior to the second goal, another Egyptian goal was disallowed for a foul at the start of the play.

Argentina began to mount their counter attack with a 79th minute goal from Cristian Romero followed by Messi's 83rd minute goal, and finally a stoppage time goal for Enzo Fernández to improbably lift Argentina over Egypt in a miraculous comeback.

Messi appeared to become emotional on the pitch following the match, according to ESPN.

The thrilling result is the second time in as many matches that Argentina narrowly avoided defeat. On Friday, Argentina defeated tournament long-shot Cape Verde in extra time, by the same score of 3 to 2.

The defending champions now move on to the quarterfinals where they will play the winner of Switzerland and Colombia. That match will take place on July 11 at 9 p.m. ET.

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