Lionel Messi was crying on the field in Atlanta on Tuesday night, and for once it wasn’t because of another crushing disappointment. It was because he dragged Argentina back from the dead.
Egypt had the defending champions on the ropes. Two goals up with 11 minutes left in regulation. Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico had already done the damage, and Argentina’s World Cup defense looked like it was about to end in a humiliating round-of-16 exit. Messi had even missed a penalty in the first half, his second missed spot-kick of the tournament, a record nobody wants.
Then things got weird.
Messi floated in a cross that Tottenham’s Cristian Romero powered home with his head. Just like that, it was 2-1. Four minutes later, Messi collected a loose ball and lashed a half-volley that flew past the keeper. Suddenly it was 2-2, and the stadium lost its mind.
But he wasn’t done. Messi became the first player ever to score in six consecutive World Cup matches during that sequence. His tournament total jumped to eight goals, putting him ahead of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe in the Golden Boot race. The guy turns 39 next year, and he’s still outscoring everyone.
The real drama came in stoppage time. Seven extra minutes. Argentina pushed forward relentlessly, and with time almost gone, Lautaro Martinez crossed from the right. Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez met it with an unstoppable header that sent the Argentine bench pouring onto the field and Messi to his knees.
He didn’t get up right away. He just sat there on the grass, crying, while his teammates mobbed each other. The TV cameras caught it all. This was the same guy who missed a penalty against Austria in the group stage and then had another saved by Egypt’s Mostafa Shobeir. He’s now the only player in World Cup history (outside of shootouts) to miss multiple penalties in one tournament.
Doesn’t matter now though does it.
Argentina moves on to the quarterfinals, still alive in their title defense. They’ll face whoever survives the late match in the other half of the bracket. Messi will probably still be emotional about this one for a while. And honestly, who can blame him.
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