Defending World Cup champ Argentina scores 3 goals in 13 minutes to stun Egypt
Reacting to the US 4-1 loss vs. Belgium in World Cup
The U.S. made news with the reinstatement of Folarin Balogun before its Round of 16 match vs. Belgium, but he was not enough as the U.S. was eliminated in the Round of 16. Our crew reacts and breaks down the loss.
Enzo Fernandez scored in stoppage time to give Argentina an incredible 3-2 win over Egypt and a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The defending champions had trailed 2-0 after goals from Yasser Ibrahim and and Mostafa Zico at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. But Argentina got two late goals in four minutes from Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi to get back in the game.
Messi also missed a chance in the first half when his penalty was saved by Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir. He also hit the post when the score was 1-0.
Messi takes lead in Golden Boot race
Messi scored his eighth goal of this year's World Cup on Tuesday against Egypt, extending his scoring streak to nine consecutive games for Argentina and moving to the top of a tight Golden Boot race.
The 21st goal of Messi's World Cup career came in the 83rd minute off an assist from Gonzalo Montiel, leveling the game at 2-2 and making up for a saved penalty kick in the 19th minute. Messi's goal came only minutes after assisting on Argentina's first score of the game — a header from Cristian Romero in the 79th minute.
Yasser Ibrahim put Egypt ahead in the 15th minute with a header. Mustafa Zico scored Egypt's second goal in the 67th minute off an assist from Haissem Hassan.
Messi has now scored in a record nine consecutive World Cup matches dating back to Argentina's title run in 2022. Tuesday's goal marked his 13th in that nine-game span.
In the race for his first Golden Boot, Messi entered Tuesday's match even with France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland at seven goals each. Mbappé held the tiebreaker with two assists. England’s Harry Kane is also in the running with six goals.
The goal also gave Messi a two-goal lead over Mbappé on the all-time World Cup goal leaderboard.
Messi finished second in the Golden Boot race behind Mbappé in 2022 with seven goals while leading Argentina to the title. He tied for third with four goals in 2014.
2026 World Cup Scoring Leaders
Eight
Lionel Messi, Argentina
Seven
Kylian Mbappé, France
Six
Harry Kane, England
Five
Erling Haaland, Norway
Four
Vinícius Júnior, Brazil
Ousmane Dembélé, France
Mikel Oyarzabal, Spain
Ismaïla Sarr, Senegal
Julián Quiñones, Mexico
Jude Bellingham, England
Three
Yoane Wissa, Congo
Elijah Just, New Zealand
Deniz Undav, Germany
Johan Manzambi, Switzerland
Jonathan David, Canada
Matheus Cunha, Brazil
Ismael Saibari, Morocco
Brian Brobbey, Netherlands
Kai Havertz, Germany
Cody Gakpo, Netherlands
Folarin Balogun, United States
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal
Raúl Jiménez, Mexico