Messi, Argentina Eliminate Salah, Egypt, Final Match Stats, Highlights & Updated World Cup Bracket

Argentina's quest for a second straight FIFA World Cup title will continue after an epic comeback on Tuesday against Egypt.

Lionel Messi helped Argentina overcome a 2-0 deficit to earn a 3-2 victory and advance to the quarterfinals. Enzo Fernández scored the go-ahead goal in the 92nd minute to keep the defending champs alive in the 2026 tournament.

Before either team even took the pitch, it was clear that Tuesday's match was special, as Messi and Mohamed Salah shared a moment of respect between fellow legends.

Both teams struggled to get into a rhythm early on, but Egypt broke through in the 15th minute when Yasser Ibrahim headed home a cross from Marawan Attia to take an early lead. It marked the first time that Argentina trailed in this year's World Cup.

However, Argentina had the chance to respond quickly when it was awarded a penalty for a foul in the box. Messi stepped up to take the penalty kick and sent a shot toward the right post, but Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shoubir guessed correctly to make the save. Messi is now 4-of-8 on penalty kicks in his career at the World Cup and became the first player to miss two PKs outside of shootouts in a single tournament.

From there, Argentina stayed on the attack, but Shobeir was ready to answer the call. Alexis Mac Allister almost had a highlight goal, but the Egyptian goalie blocked his header.

Messi tried to score the equalizer from distance when Argentina was awarded a free kick, but his shot went off the post.

Shobeir made his presence felt once again with a beautiful save to preserve the first-half shutout.

Argentina tried to keep the pressure on to start the second half, but Egypt appeared to give itself a cushion in the 60th minute when Mostafa Zico put in a beautiful through ball from Salah on a breakaway. However, the goal was disallowed after VAR determined that a foul occurred on the other side of the pitch.

Undeterred, Egypt continued its stellar defense and waited for the right opportunity to attack again. A corner kick from Messi was headed out of the box to Salah, who ignited a breakaway with a sprint down the middle before finding Haissem Hassan, who then sent a chip to Zico to fire home without anyone denying him this time.

Argentina refused to go down quietly, as Messi fired a cross that Cristian Romero headed in past a diving Shobeir to cut into the lead in the 79th minute.

Inspired by that, Argentina stayed on the attack, and Messi found the back of the net just five minutes later to tie the game. He's now the first player ever with a goal in nine straight World Cup games.

With seven minutes of stoppage time added to the clock, Fernández headed home a long cross from Lautaro Martínez for the go-ahead goal in the 92nd minute.

Egypt was visibly devastated by the comeback and incurred multiple yellow and red cards in the aftermath.

Argentina will face the winner of Tuesday night's match between Switzerland and Colombia in the quarterfinals on Saturday.