Argentina was losing 0-2 to Egypt in the 77th minute at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Tuesday. Eleven minutes later, Argentina had won 3-2. The sequence: Cristian Romero headed in at the 79th minute; Lionel Messi scored at the 83rd; Enzo Fernández headed the winner in the second minute of stoppage time. [1] It was the first time in World Cup history that a team won a knockout match in regulation after trailing by two goals in the 75th minute. It was Messi's eighth goal of this tournament. It was his 21st career World Cup goal — extending the all-time record.
When this paper identified Messi's Argentina and the Haaland-Kane duel as the English-language broadcast anchors for the remaining rounds after all three co-hosts were eliminated, it was making a prediction about Fox's programming problem. Tuesday night confirmed it. Argentina nearly handed Fox its worst-case scenario.
Egypt had a goal disallowed by VAR in the first half. Messi missed a penalty, his shot saved by goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir. Egypt converted their dominance into a 2-0 lead that looked, at the 77th minute, like a legitimate upset result from Africa's strongest squad. [2] Then Romero scored. Then Messi scored. Then Fernández.
The comeback matters in sporting terms for what it produced: a record no previous tournament had generated, completed by a player who is 39 years old and in what most observers consider his last World Cup. The eight goals he has scored in this tournament equal Guillermo Stabile's record for the most goals by an Argentine in a single World Cup, set in 1930. Messi has now equalled in 2026 what Stabile did in the tournament's first edition. [2]
The comeback matters in broadcast terms for what it preserved. Fox's quarterfinal schedule without the United States rested on two English-language audience anchors: Argentina, built around Messi, and the Norway-England match, built around Haaland and Kane. An Egypt win would have reduced that to one. Argentina will face Switzerland in Kansas City on Saturday. [1] Fox's schedule is intact.
The Argentine broadcast, which carries the country's emotions across every South American timezone and into the Miami diaspora, produced the reaction the tournament's viewing figures required. The three goals in thirteen minutes were not a controlled performance. They were the kind of reversal that football, uniquely among team sports, permits in its final passages — when the goal differential narrows and the trailing team no longer has anything to protect. Egypt played to defend their lead. Argentina played to survive. Survival won. [2]
-- LUCIA VEGA, São Paulo