Egypt dreams of a historic achievement against Argentina.
The clash between Argentine star Lionel Messi and Egyptian Mohamed Salah takes center stage in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday evening, as their national teams meet at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The Argentine team (defending champions) narrowly escaped a surprising defeat against Cape Verde, which is participating in the World Cup for the first time, in the Round of 32 of the tournament currently taking place in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Meanwhile, the Egyptian team had to rely on penalties to overcome Australia in their first appearance in the knockout stages of the World Cup.
It was not surprising that Argentina was considered the favorite to win against Cape Verde, but they unexpectedly had to endure a tough match against the resilient team nicknamed the "Blue Sharks," which came back from behind twice to force two unexpected extra time periods in the Round of 32.
In the end, the world champions secured their place in the Round of 16 thanks to a goal that came from "friendly fire," after Cape Verde's Diony Borges scored an own goal in the 111th minute, allowing coach Lionel Scaloni's men to advance at the expense of the African team, which had 16 shots on Argentina's goal but could not overcome the experience of the "Tango dancers" over 120 minutes.
The Argentine team is known for its exceptional performance in extra time in all World Cup tournaments, having now won 10 out of 12 matches in the World Cup that went beyond 90 minutes, achieving four victories without penalties and six victories from penalties.
Despite the difficulty of the Round of 32 for Argentine fans, their team is currently on a remarkable winning streak of eight matches across all competitions, scoring two or more goals in each victory, bringing their total to 11 goals in four matches in the current World Cup so far.
Switzerland or Colombia will pose the next threat to Argentina's chances of winning the title if the defending champions manage to eliminate Egypt in the Round of 16, a round in which Argentina has won seven of its last nine matches in the World Cup, failing only in 1994 and 2018 against Romania and France, respectively.