From the Sports Desk: Argentina’s great escape

Lionel Messi scored another goal — his eighth of the tournament — to help his team to one of the great World Cup comebacks, a 3-2 win over Egypt despite trailing by two with only 11 minutes of regulation time to play. And in the final round of 16 matchup, Switzerland beat Colombia 4-3 in a penalty shootout after a scoreless draw.

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There are no games today, so head to the NBC News team’s World Cup page to follow all the latest in the buildup to the quarterfinals.

Recap

On paper, it looked like a round of 16 mismatch. The three-time winner and reigning champion, Argentina, versus an Egypt team in the World Cup’s knockout stages for the first time.

Yet in a tournament full of surprises, it was the Pharaohs that raced into an early lead, Yasser Ibrahim heading home Marwan Attia ’s cross. It was the first time Argentina had been behind in a World Cup game since its opener against Saudi Arabia four years ago.

Messi had the chance to equalize from the penalty spot in the first half but fluffed his lines — again. He has now missed four of the eight penalties he has taken at World Cups, excluding shootouts.

When Mostafa Zico doubled Egypt’s lead after a sweeping move in the 67th minute, Egypt was on the brink of one of the great World Cup upsets. Argentina had previously lost all 13 World Cup games when it had gone 2-0 down.

But center back Cristian Romero headed a goal back for Argentina in the 79th minute before Messi equalized five minutes later, pouncing on a loose ball to extend his World Cup goal record to 21. Combative midfielder Enzo Fernández headed the winning goal in stoppage time to complete one of the great World Cup comebacks. It was the latest that any team has ever come back from two goals down in a World Cup game to win without going to extra time. No wonder Messi was in tears after the final whistle.

African teams keep getting knocked out in the last five minutes in this tournament: South Africa, Senegal, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast and now Egypt.

The Pharaohs thought they should’ve had a penalty in the buildup to the Fernández goal when Mohamed Salah went down in the box. Egypt manager Hossam Hassan was so angry with the officials that he vowed not to watch any more matches at this World Cup.

If that meant Hassan avoided the drab 0-0 tie between Switzerland and Colombia that kicked off later, then he can count himself lucky in that regard, at least. At the end of regulation time, this match had the lowest combined expected goals (0.70) in any game this World Cup.

Switzerland faces Argentina in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.

Completing the quarterfinal lineup: France takes on Morocco tomorrow; Spain plays Belgium, which knocked out the U.S., on Friday; and England takes on Norway on Saturday.

Men in Blazers

A comeback for the ages, Argentina scored three late goals to defeat Egypt 3-2, and at this point, you can just never doubt Lionel Messi in any circumstance. Down two goals with 12 minutes to go, it felt as though Messi’s eulogies were being written, but then came the 13-minute flood. He teed up Cristian Romero before smashing home the equalizer to go to the top of the Golden Boot race, scoring in his ninth consecutive World Cup match . The Pharaohs fought so bravely but, in trying to win the game before extra time, were sucker-punched by a gung-ho counterattack finished by Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández , who, alongside the GOAT, cried for Argentina at full time .

The quarterfinals start tomorrow, with a rematch of an exciting 2022 semifinal bout between France and Morocco at 4 p.m. ET in Boston. Kylian Mbappé trails Messi by just one goal in the Golden Boot race, but his Les Bleus now face their toughest test of the tournament. The Atlas Lions are the lone African team left in the competition and are looking to stun the footballing world with a takedown blow of Didier Deschamps ’ 2018 world champions in this revenge match.

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