Argentina 3-2 Egypt: Lionel Scaloni must make brutal Lionel Messi decision as unwanted World Cup record set

Argentina 3-2 Egypt was a game befitting the weird and wonderful of the World Cup 2026 tournament so far.

Edging a five-goal thriller for the second knockout game running, the reigning champions broke Pharaohs hearts everywhere, thanks in no small part to both technological calls in their favour and Lionel Messi mastery.

However, in spite of the latter's customary heroics, Albiceleste boss Lionel Scaloni must now take a brutal decision into his own hands.

Argentina 3-2 Egypt: What just happened?

Argentina kept their dream of back-to-back World Cup triumphs alive in an absorbing Atlanta encounter, pulling off a magnificent comeback from 2-0 down inside 20 chaotic second-half minutes.

La Albiceleste had never previously won a World Cup match when falling two goals down and had only ever won one game at the competition when trailing at half time, but the spirit of champions shone through and then some.

Argentina were aided by a couple of controversial calls going their way, but when the time came for Scaloni's men to shift from second to sixth gear, they did so with gusto.

However, the greatest player to ever pull on a blue and white shirt made life exponentially harder for them.

Argentina 3-2 Egypt: The big talking point

Messi MISSES another penalty ?‍♂️

Egypt's keeper Mostafa Shobeir throws himself at the ball to stop
Argentina capitalising on a foul on Nicolas Tagliafico ? pic.twitter.com/O3RuRaU5aa

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 7, 2026

Shortly after Yasser Ibrahim propelled Egypt into a shock lead, Argentina were given the chance to hit back from the penalty spot when Haissem Hassan - otherwise mesmerising - brought down Nicolas Tagliafico.

Main man Messi stepped up to the spot - no teammate would even think about taking this away from him, even after the 39-year-old proved that he is human with his gaffe against Austria.

While Messi did not go for the failed Bruno Guimaraes stutter, his spot kick was a good height for Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir, who parried the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner's strike to safety as Messi became the first man to miss two penalties at a single World Cup.

Argentina 3-2 Egypt: The bigger picture

Accused of lacking confidence from the penalty mark, Messi has now missed as many World Cup spot kicks as he has scored - excluding shootouts - converting four and fluffing four.

Today's penalty marked a milestone for Messi, who took the 150th spot kick of his career in Atlanta, but he has now missed 34 of them - failing what is supposedly the easiest shot in football over 20% of the time.

From an admittedly much smaller sample size, Julian Alvarez has converted 89% of his spot kicks - 17 from 19 - while Enzo Fernandez has only missed one of the 12 he has taken during his career.

It would take the bravest of souls to take Messi off penalty duties, but with a World Cup trophy on the line, Scaloni could demonstrate the biggest act of managerial authority possible by ordering the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner hand the ball over to Alvarez or Fernandez next time.

Argentina 3-2 Egypt: What next?

Argentina march on to the World Cup quarter-finals, where they will meet either Switzerland or Colombia for the right to take on England or Norway in the semi-finals.