Egypt's World Cup campaign ended in heartbreaking fashion on Tuesday as they squandered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to defending champions Argentina in the last 16 at Atlanta Stadium.
Egypt led 2-0 until the 79th minute before Argentina scored three times in the final 11 minutes to complete a stunning comeback and book their place in the quarter-finals.
Defender Yasser Ibrahim opened the scoring in the 15th minute before Mostafa "Zico" Abdel-Raouf doubled Egypt's advantage in the 67th.
Cristian Romero pulled one back in the 79th minute, Lionel Messi levelled five minutes later, and Enzo Fernandez struck deep into stoppage time to seal a hard-fought victory for Argentina.
A goal and an impressive Shobeir
Egypt made a bright start and matched the defending champions from the opening whistle.
They were rewarded in the 15th minute when Ahly defender Yasser Ibrahim rose to meet a pinpoint cross from Marwan Attia and headed past the goalkeeper.
Argentina had a golden opportunity to equalise four minutes later after winning a penalty, but Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir produced a superb save to deny Messi, who missed his second spot kick of the tournament.
Shobeir came to Egypt's rescue again in the 28th minute, keeping out Alexis Mac Allister's close-range header, before Messi struck the crossbar with a free kick two minutes later.
Argentina dominated possession for the remainder of the first half, but Egypt defended resolutely, with Shobeir producing a string of fine saves to preserve their lead.
Egypt were forced into an early change after the break when the injured Emam Ashour was replaced by Hamdy Fathy.
The Pharaohs continued to frustrate Argentina and thought they had doubled their lead in the 58th minute through Mostafa 'Zico' Abdel-Raouf following a swift counterattack, only for the goal to be ruled out by VAR for a foul by Marwan Attia in the build-up.
Zico was not to be denied, however, and nine minutes later he finished off Haissem Hassan's cross from the right to put Egypt 2-0 ahead.
Messi inspires comeback
Messi, who had endured a frustrating evening after missing a penalty and hitting the woodwork, sparked Argentina's revival in the closing stages.
His inviting cross found Romero, who headed home in the 79th minute to halve the deficit.
Five minutes later, Messi fired a powerful shot from the edge of the area beyond Shobeir to level the score, before Fernandez completed the comeback with a stoppage-time header.
Despite the defeat, Egypt won widespread praise for an outstanding tournament, producing disciplined and fearless performances against some of the world's strongest teams and underlining the promise of a new generation of players.
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