ATLANTA — Lionel Messi and Argentina survived their most dramatic test of the 2026 World Cup, rallying from a two-goal deficit to beat Egypt 3-2 in a chaotic round of 16 clash that has since spiraled into a full-blown officiating controversy led by Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan.

Egypt took a first-half lead through a header from Yasser Ibrahim and appeared to be marching toward a historic upset when Mostafa Ziko doubled the advantage in the second half. Argentine goalkeeping nerves showed early too, as Messi had a penalty saved before halftime by Egypt's Mostafa Shobeir, who kept his side in front with a string of key stops. But the defending champions turned the match on its head in the closing minutes: Cristian Romero pulled one back on a fast counterattack, Messi leveled it with a low strike inside the box, and Enzo Fernández headed home the winner in stoppage time off a cross from Lautaro Martínez.

The finish set off an uproar on the Egyptian bench. A VAR review had already disallowed a Zico goal for a foul earlier in the buildup, and Egypt argued a penalty should have been awarded in the sequence leading to Fernández's winner over an alleged shirt pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy. Referee François Letexier showed a red card to Egypt's goalkeeping coach and handed out several yellow cards as tempers flared around the Argentine bench.

Hassan did not hold back afterward, telling reporters his team had been "cheated" and had suffered injustice at the hands of officials. He suggested match officials had been influenced to keep Messi and the reigning champions in the tournament, and separately criticized organizers for scheduling the match at noon, arguing the kickoff time left players without a proper chance to eat beforehand. Egypt forward Mostafa Ziko echoed the frustration, calling the result "rigged" in comments to the BBC. Hassan added that he does not plan to watch any more matches for the remainder of the tournament. Al Jazeera

FIFA has not issued a formal response to Hassan's allegations, though the outburst adds to a tournament already marked by refereeing disputes, including an earlier controversy over a red card shown to U.S. forward Folarin Balogun. For Mohamed Salah, the loss carries extra weight: the veteran forward had hinted before the match that this World Cup could be his last, raising the possibility that Tuesday's defeat marked the end of his international tournament career.

Argentina now advances to the quarterfinals, where it will face the winner of Colombia-Switzerland. Coach Lionel Scaloni has said he hopes to lead the team to a final showdown against Spain on July 19 in the New York/New Jersey area, as Argentina chases back-to-back titles.

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