Chaos reigned supreme during the final stages of Argentina‘s dramatic win over Egypt, which marked one of the all-time great World Cup comebacks. It looked like the reigning champions would be dumped out before the quarter-finals, with Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Ziko handing Egypt a surprise two-goal lead.
However, an incredible late comeback saw Argentina squeeze through to maintain their hopes of winning back-to-back World Cups. Cristian Romero offered hope of a turnaround when he pulled one back in the 79th minute before Lionel Messi equalised just moments later with his eighth goal of the tournament.
Enzo Fernandez had the final say in stoppage time, heading home from close range to spark wild scenes of celebration and break Egyptian hearts.
The goal sparked a melee on the touchline, with a number of Egypt staff members absolutely furious that a penalty wasn’t given just beforehand.
Mohamed Salah went down in the Argentina box as possession was turned over, but the referee wasn’t interested and play was allowed to continue with no VAR intervention.
One of Egypt’s coaches was shown a red card in the aftermath and responded by venturing onto the pitch and trying to remonstrate with several Argentina players.
Hamdi Fathy, Mostafa Shobeir and head coach Hossam Hassan were also booked during the unsavoury scenes that unfolded after Fernandez’s dramatic winner.
Earlier in the game, an Egypt goal was disallowed for a soft foul in the build-up, which may have contributed to the fury from their bench.
In spite of the furious scenes, Argentina managed to hang on to clinch a famous victory, prompting Messi to burst into tears during the post-match celebrations.
They will face either Switzerland or Colombia in the quarter-finals and could meet England in the semi-finals, should both teams make it that far.