Argentina vs. Egypt Preview
Defending champs look to advance to quarterfinals
Much has been made about this being the last World Cup for a number of aging stars. Cristiano Ronaldo has gone out and will not be playing at another World Cup. Neymar announced, after Brazil were dumped out by Norway, they he is retiring from international soccer. Speculation abounds, of course, that his is also Messi’s last World Cup. But could this also be the final World Cup for Mo Salah of Egypt? It’s only the second time the 34-year-old has been to the World Cup (the first being 2018) but he has just left Liverpool and qualification for any World Cup is far from certain for Egypt. It sets up a fascinating showdown in Atlanta when Salah and Egypt take on Messi and Argentina.
Argentina came into this tournament as one of the favorites to win it all, a familiar position. They are the reigning champs, have Messi, and a pretty favorable group. Their form coming into the tournament was also quite good, even if the competition was not: Puerto Rico, Angola, Mauritania, Zambia, Honduras, and Iceland (dating back to October). They predictably swept through the group stage with three wins in three games and Messi putting on a show with six goals in those three games. Then came what many assumed would be another walkover against Cape Verde. It turned out to be anything but, though it seemed to start off that way as Messi (who else?) opened the scoring in the 29th minute. But Cape Verde seemed to forget that they were supposed to let Argentina run away with it and tied the game in the 59th minute. The game stayed level into extra time where Argentina retook the lead after two minutes, courtesy of Lisandro Martinez. And again, Cape Verde forgot they were supposed to be a footnote in the game and equalized ten minutes later as Sidny Cabral scored the goal of the tournament. But with penalties looming, the talent and class of Argentina eventually won the day, forcing an own goal just nine minutes from penalties to secure passage for La Albiceleste.
Egypt had a much more difficult run-up to the tournament and also a much more difficult group stage, and perhaps even a much more difficult Round of 32 game. The Pharaohs finished fourth at the AFCON in January. In March, they beat Saudi Arabia and drew with Spain. Immediately prior to the tournament they beat Russia 1-0 in Cairo before losing 2-1 to Brazil in Cleveland. Once the World Cup began, they have been impressive that they have yet to be beaten and keep advancing but unimpressive in that they have only won once. Their campaign got off to an ok start with a 1-1 draw against Belgium before they picked up a 3-1 win over New Zealand (Salah scoring what wound up being the winner). Heading into the final group game they got a 1-1 draw with Iran which was enough to secure advancement to the knockout round for the first time since the 1934 World Cup. There, they faced Australia and after 120 minutes of stalemate, prevailed on penalties (converting all four of their kicks while the Socceroos only made two). And nobody is happier about their continued advancement than defender Mohamed Hany who has shockingly managed to score, not one, but two own-goals at this tournament.
When, Where
Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
City: Seattle, WA
Time: 12pm ET
TV: FOX
How They Qualified
Argentina: CONMEBOL winners
Egypt: CAF Group A winners
Current FIFA Ranking
Argentina: 2
Egypt: 24
Group stage performance
Argentina: 1st place Group J (9pts)
Egypt: 2nd place Group G (5pts)
Rd of 32 performance
Argentina: 3-2 win vs. Cape Verde (ET)
Egypt: 1-1 draw vs. Australia (4-2 pen)
Photo Credit: Think Marketing