Champions Argentina face off Egypt for qtr-finals spot

Lionel Messi could make more World Cup history for Argentina when they take on Egypt in the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup in Atlanta on Tuesday.

The match will kick-off at 10:00pm (Bangladesh Standard Time). State-owned television BTV, private satellite sports channel T Sports, private satellite channel Somoy TV will telecast the do-or-die game live.

After Messi scored the opener against Cape Verde in the round of 32 on Friday, Argentina twice surrendered the lead before clinching a 3-2 victory when Cristian Romero’s header deflected in off Diney Borges.

That goal took the Argentina captain to seven for the tournament and made him the first player to score at least seven goals in two World Cups.

However, Kylian Mbappé replicated that feat by converting France’s penalty winner against Paraguay in the last 16 on Saturday, joining Messi on seven goals in North America too.

Erling Haaland has also now reached seven goals in his very first World Cup tournament after his brace against Brazil set Norway up for a quarter-final clash with England.

Still, Messi will be hoping to extend his goalscoring streak and join Guillermo Stabile in 1930 as the only Argentina player to score eight goals in a single World Cup.

If the 39-year-old bags that goal against Egypt, he will become only the sixth player to score in their country’s first five games at a World Cup, joining Just Fontaine for France in 1958, Jairzinho for Brazil in 1970, Gerd Müller for Germany in 1970, Rivaldo for Brazil in 2002, and James Rodríguez for Colombia in 2014.

Argentina will hope Messi is not significantly affected by the extended minutes in the heat of Miami and the short turnaround between games.

Lionel Scaloni will be focusing on helping his players recover effectively.

Facundo Medina went off with severe cramp against Cape Verde, while Enzo Fernández (cramp) and Nicolás González (ankle) struggled on to the end of the game due to no substitutions being available.

“In the final minutes, we had no substitutions, some players had cramps, and it was a matter of defending like a cornered cat,” said Scaloni.

“When you’re not playing well, you have to defend. The important thing is that we advanced, and we’ll correct our mistakes.”

Argentina have scored at least two goals in each of their last 10 World Cup matches and could join Uruguay (1930 to 1954) as the only nation ever to net twice in 11 in succession.

Their chances are enhanced by the fact Egypt have conceded nine times over their past six World Cup games. They have also scored eight in those matches, though.

The only African nation to score and concede in seven consecutive outings at the finals was Ghana (2010 to 2022).

The Pharaohs booked their meeting with Argentina by overcoming Australia 4-2 on penalties after an uninspiring 1-1 draw, keeping their unbeaten record at the competition intact.

They are now aiming to become the fifth African nation to reach the World Cup quarter-finals after Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002), Ghana (2010) and Morocco (2022 and 2026).

Egypt had concerns about Mohamed Salah’s fitness for the match against Australia due to a hamstring injury, but the star attacker completed the 120 minutes and converted a chipped penalty in the shootout.

Salah has created 16 chances at this World Cup and will match the record for an African player set by Kevin-Prince Boateng (18) for Ghana in 2010 if he creates two here.

Should the Pharaohs manage to pull off an upset against Argentina, a meeting with Colombia or Switzerland awaits in the quarter-finals.