Lionel Messi has explained why he was moved to tears after Argentina staged a remarkable 3-2 comeback victory over Egypt to book a place in the quarter-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The defending champions looked set for a shock exit after Egypt raced into a two-goal lead in Tuesday night’s Round of 16 encounter.
Nasser Ibrahim opened the scoring before Messi missed a penalty, his effort being saved. It was the Argentina captain’s second penalty miss of the tournament.
Egypt tightened their grip on the match when Mostafa Zico finished off a swift counter-attack to make it 2-0.
But Argentina produced a spirited second-half comeback. Cristian Romero reduced the deficit before Messi redeemed himself by scoring the equaliser. Enzo Fernandez then completed the turnaround with the winning goal to send Lionel Scaloni’s side into the last eight.
Speaking after the match, an emotional Messi admitted he cried because he felt he had let his teammates down with the missed penalty.
“I cried because I felt that I let my teammates down because of the penalty I missed and the way I took it.
“But thankfully, once again, God had something special for me in the end. I’m very happy,” the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner said.
Messi’s goal and emotional reaction capped one of the tournament’s most dramatic matches, keeping Argentina’s hopes of defending their World Cup title alive.
