{"id":75,"date":"2026-07-07T23:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/?p=75"},"modified":"2026-07-07T23:53:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:53:41","slug":"tears-of-relief-messi-adds-another-incredible-chapter-to-world-cup-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/tears-of-relief-messi-adds-another-incredible-chapter-to-world-cup-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Tears of relief? Messi adds another incredible chapter to World Cup career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Lionel Messi stood in the centre of Atlanta Stadium in floods of tears, sobbing on the shoulders of his team-mates, after adding another remarkable World Cup victory to the story of his incredible career.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Argentina&#8217;s great sporting icon had been captured on the giant screens looking up in despair as the holders trailed Egypt 2-0 with less than 20 minutes left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At that point, any tears Messi may have shed would have been the same as those of his great contemporary Cristiano Ronaldo, who&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/articles\/c3vyyq1kg5go\">made an emotional farewell to the World Cup<\/a>&nbsp;after Portugal&#8217;s injury-time loss to Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, this defiant Argentina decided that was simply not going to happen &#8211; scoring three goals in 14 minutes to turn the game around in one of the most remarkable comebacks the World Cup has ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Messi may be 39 and doing much of his work at walking pace these days, but the magic has not been dimmed by the passing of the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Messi watches. Messi waits. Messi conserves his energy for when it matters. The body may be slower but the brain remains razor sharp. The genius is permanent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And he proved it once more in the most dramatic fashion on another spine-tingling World Cup occasion, pulling Argentina up from the canvas just as Egypt were about to add to this tournament&#8217;s list of shocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/live\/cdr4m2122lgt\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/live\/cdr4m2122lgt\">Argentina complete extraordinary comeback to beat Egypt<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/live\/cdr4m2122lgt\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Egypt led through goals in each half from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico \u2013 the latter of whom had an earlier goal ruled by the video assistant referee for a foul at the other end of the pitch &#8211; and keeper Mostafa Shobeir was in inspired form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Messi even had a first-half penalty saved by Shobeir &#8211; the fourth of eight spot-kicks he has failed to score at a World Cup. Having missed against Austria, it also meant be became the only player &#8211; excluding shootouts &#8211; to fail to convert two penalties in a single World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there was still time for Messi to again produce moments that shape a game to pull Argentina away from a World Cup exit to scenes of joy similar to those seen when they won the tournament in Qatar almost four years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With only 11 minutes left, he crossed for Cristiano Romero to give Argentina hope with a header. Four minutes and 18 seconds later, Messi sent a left-footed shot flashing high past Shobeir and in off the bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Egypt had given everything, finally succumbing to Enzo Fernandez&#8217;s header in stoppage time for the most heartbreaking of exits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the depths of despair, Messi was being tossed high into the air by his team-mates in front of Argentina&#8217;s fans, who stayed in place long after the final whistle going through their full setlist of songs to a thudding drumbeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is why Messi&#8217;s Argentina colleagues are willing to sacrifice themselves when it comes to the donkey work. They know the master is waiting to win World Cup games for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/320x180\/p0nxdckq.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Figure caption,Shobeir&#8217;s &#8216;brilliant save&#8217; denies Messi from the spot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"The-implications-for-England\">The implications for England<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Would Messi have been lost to the World Cup forever had Argentina lost?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He would be 43 &#8211; the oldest outfield player to play at a World Cup &#8211; if he carried on to the next, though the lure of games being played in his home country may have sustained him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, Messi can look forward to a quarter-final here against either Switzerland or Colombia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, watching in Atlanta for BBC Radio 5 Live, said: &#8220;That was incredible. Spectacular. Argentina were down and out. They were out of the tournament at one point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Egypt are so frustrated with the refereeing decisions that have gone against them. They had a second goal disallowed before they got their second goal for an infringement that was almost on their own touchline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Then Lionel Messi just stepped in and took over. Beautiful assist, great finish for his goal, and then the substitutions worked for Argentina.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Argentina&#8217;s recovery, and this was not simply the Messi show it should be said, also had implications for England who, when Egypt led, might just have believed it was a &#8216;now or never&#8217; moment for reaching their first men&#8217;s World Cup final since 1966.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/articles\/c5yz0zkzw39o\">England&#8217;s path to the final<\/a>&nbsp;was shaping up as Norway in the quarter-finals, then Egypt, Switzerland or Colombia in the last four if they got through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, there remains the shadow of Messi and Argentina as the potential obstacle should they overcome the dangerous Norwegians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And Messi, even in advancing years, casts a giant shadow over any opponents, as Egypt found to their cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Messi became the first player in World Cup history to score in six consecutive knockout-phase games and now has eight goals in this one. It is the most by a player in the opening five games since West Germany&#8217;s Gerd Muller scored 10 in Mexico in 1970.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He has also contributed to 16 goals in his past nine World Cup games, with 13 goals and three assists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>England&#8217;s concern will be he still has the power to add more. And looks in the mood to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/320x180\/p0nxdvwk.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Figure caption,Fernandez scores &#8216;the header of his career&#8217;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Argentina also remain a significant force &#8211; a typical mixture of silk and steel with Messi as the talisman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lionel Scaloni&#8217;s side know that where there is Messi there is hope &#8211; but there is also an abundance of talent elsewhere, backed by an inherent hatred of defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Argentina, as champions do, find a way to win &#8211; as they did when they finally&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/live\/cz75y0v8qrjt\">overcame Cape Verde 3-2<\/a>&nbsp;in the last 32. Having Messi also helps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was the latest any country has ever been two goals down in a World Cup game and come back to win without needing extra time. Opta&#8217;s win probability data gave Argentina only a 0.6% chance of winning at the time of Romero&#8217;s goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amid plenty of competition, especially the drama and emotion of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/live\/cr5j14eyzm8t\">England&#8217;s 3-2 win against Mexico<\/a>&nbsp;at the Azteca, this may just have been the best game of the World Cup so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And Messi&#8217;s tears demonstrated that, even at 39, he is not immune to the emotions football can provoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lionel Messi stood in the centre of Atlanta Stadium in floods of tears, sobbing on the shoulders of his team-mates, after adding another remarkable World Cup victory to the story of his incredible career. Argentina&#8217;s great sporting icon had been captured on the giant screens looking up in despair as the holders trailed Egypt 2-0&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76,"href":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions\/76"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anatolia.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}