Epic, pure history: Argentina's comeback smashed a World Cup record | OneFootball

Argentina defeated Egypt 3-2 in the Round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, showing remarkable character to overcome adversity and setting a truly historic record.

The team led by Lionel Scaloni made history by becoming the first national side in World Cup history to overturn a two-goal deficit in a knockout match after still trailing in the 78th minute and going on to win in regular time, without needing extra time.

Only ten teams in the history of the tournament had previously managed to come back from a two-goal deficit in the knockout stages. This select group began at the 1938 World Cup in France with two matches: Switzerland overturned its game against Germany to win 4-2, and Brazil did the same against Sweden in the third-place match by the same score.

At the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, two more memorable feats took place, including the legendary final in which West Germany defeated Hungary 3-2 and the thrilling quarterfinal in which Austria beat Switzerland 7-5 after falling behind early.

That ability to fight back resurfaced at England 1966 through Portugal, which, with a standout performance from Eusébio, turned around a surprising deficit against North Korea to seal a 5-3 win.

In the following decades, comebacks of this level of difficulty required an extreme effort and were decided in extra time. That was the case in the quarterfinals of Mexico 1970, with West Germany’s 3-2 extra-time victory over England, and in the dramatic semifinal of Spain 1982, where the German team drew 3-3 with France after trailing in extra time and advanced on penalties.

The most recent cases came in Russia 2018, when Belgium claimed a dramatic 3-2 win over Japan with the last play of regular time to reach the quarterfinals. Belgium itself repeated the feat in the round of 32 of this 2026 World Cup, recovering to beat Senegal 3-2 through a penalty in the final minutes of extra time.

The feat by the Scaloneta surpasses every previous record because of how quickly the outcome unfolded. Unlike the other nine historic teams, Argentina was trailing 0-2 with only twelve minutes left before the end of the match.

Goals by Cristian Romero in the 79th minute and Lionel Messi in the 83rd brought hope back to a team that seemed beaten, before Enzo Fernández scored the final 3-2 in the 92nd minute. Without needing extra time or penalties, and with time against them, Argentina produced a page of pure mystique that is already etched among the greatest moments in World Cup history.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.