Argentina was on the brink of elimination. Down 2-0 to Egypt with just under 15 minutes to go, it seemed like their defense was coming to a close. Then chaos ensued.
During this past weekend, Neymar Jr. and Cristiano Ronaldo both lost their matches. The two athletes also confirmed that it was their final time in the World Cup ever. That set up Lionel Messi as the last man standing.
After the first 78 minutes, it looked like Messi was going to join his legendary contemporaries. He didn’t make any announcement about whether this would be his last World Cup, but at 39, it was highly likely it was. It would have been a sour ending to an illustrious WC career.
After Egypt opened the scoring 1-0, Messi had the opportunity to equalize on a penalty a few moments later, and he missed. He became the first player ever to miss multiple penalties in one tournament. That moment looked like it was going to prove costly when Egypt scored at the 67th minute to go up 2-0.
All hope was lost until Argentina struck in the 79th minute. Messi lobbed a pass to Christian Romero, who headed the ball in to make it 2-1. Then four minutes later, the little magician himself cleaned up a chaotic sequence in the goalie box to equalize it at 2-2. Hope was back in the air for Argentina and its fans.
In the biggest moment of the tournament, Messi came through with an assist and goal. It was so spectacular that Tom Brady admitted that this comeback was greater than his 28-3 feat.
The Argentine Assassin now has 21 career WC goals and leads the Golden Boot race with eight. Messi has also scored in nine straight matches in this tournament.
Dating back to the 2022 World Cup, it’s evident that Argentina thrives in chaotic matches in the knockout stage. It began in the Round of 16 when they beat Australia.
The squad was cruising up 2-0 until Australia scored in the 77th minute to cut it to 2-1. Towards the end of regulation, Australia had one final chance to equalize, but Emiliano Martinez made an incredible save.
In the Quarter Finals, Argentina was once again up 2-0 for the first 82 minutes. The Netherlands scored in the 83rd and 101st minutes to push it to extra time. The game went into a penalty shootout where the blue and white won 4-3.
Everyone knows the World Cup final well. Argentina was dominating the match, up 2-0 for 78 minutes, once again, before Kylian Mbappe scored two goals in three minutes to equalize it at 2-2. The game then was knotted at 3-3 and went to penalties, where Argentina won 4-2.
This year, the champs were in a nail-biter with Cabo Verde, knotted at 2-2 in the second half of extra time before an own goal ended the game. Argentina escaped that game 3-2. This most recent game was also a nail-biter, where they were down 2-0 with less than 12 minutes to go. They scored three goals in the final stretch to win 3-2.
It doesn’t make sense why Argentina chooses the more difficult path to win matches, but this is what they do. They are comfortable when odds are against them. That is the point: this team is at its best in chaos. Their biggest weakness may be complacency, but when you have arguably the best player in the sport still, the belief never wavers.
It may not be pretty, but the squad knows how to win.
Argentina will now face Switzerland in the quarter-finals. With Spain and France being on the opposite side of the bracket, they have a real shot to get back to the final. Once you are in the final, anything can happen.
Will Messi add a second trophy to his collection? Or will Argentina’s inability to dominate games catch up to them?
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