Argentina will have their World Cup haters - but Lionel Messi & Co have done nothing more than show the grit and determination of champions

Argentina could hardly have made it through their last-16 tie in more dramatic circumstances. The uninspired holders looked dead and buried when Mustafa Zico fired underdogs Egypt into a two-goal lead in the 67th minute, following Yasser Ibrahim's first-half opener and another Messi penalty miss on the World Cup stage.

But with 11 minutes to play, the champions sprang into life. The hero of the equally nerve-shredding last-32 triumph over minnows Cape Verde, Cristian Romero nodded in from a Messi cross to pull one back. That was swiftly followed by yet another goal for the GOAT himself, who crashed the ball into the back of the net via a touch onto the crossbar.

Then, just when it looked like the game was heading to extra time, Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez rose at the back post to nod Argentina in front in the third minute of stoppage time, sparking wild celebrations on one bench and fury on the other. Such was the incredible nature of the victory, it left Lionels Messi and Scaloni in tears.

However, for their beaten opponents, there has been an outpouring of a very different kind of emotion, with the agonising defeat prompting an ugly backlash from both players and coaching staff, including accusations of favouritism and match fixing. The Egyptian FA has gone to the extent of lodging a complain with FIFA in an attempt to get the French match officials kicked out of the tournament.

The African nation believed Zico's first goal at 1-0 was wrongly disallowed for a foul on Lisandro Martinez at the other end of the pitch, and they were incensed that they weren't awarded a penalty when Mohamed Salah went down in the box just seconds before Fernandez headed home the winner from Lautaro Martinez's cross.

"The referee was really unfair," an enraged Zico said afterwards. "The injustice was clear. There's been an unfairness right from the start of the match. It is clear that this tournament has been fixed."

Egypt's manager Hossam Hassan doubled down on that stance. "It's all about money. They want Messi to stay in the tournament," he said. "In football, many things happen off the pitch because of interests. What happened was unfair. Egypt deserved to qualify. We were the better team.

"Why isn’t there any fairness in sport? I do not want to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording. We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice. It is my own way of speaking up and standing up. I am not going to watch another match in this tournament."

As much as Egypt won't want to admit it, the truth is that their sense of injustice was probably fuelled by the fact that they threw away a match that they were fully in control of with just 11 minutes to play, failing to even take it to extra time.

The defending for all three goals Egypt conceded late on was horribly chaotic, and they were brutally punished by the world champions for their regrettable inability to manage the game: Romero was completely unmarked when he nodded home, the backline was scattered again as Messi rattled in the leveller, and Fernandez rose basically unchallenged as they overcommitted in attack and were caught on the break at the death.

In terms of the refereeing decisions, the reality is that there was a foul on Martinez before Egypt raced down the other end to score their would-be second, even if it was long before the ball hit the back of the net, with the Manchester United defender's overzealous marker Marwan Attia simultaneously pulling his shirt and treading on his foot.

The Salah penalty claim, meanwhile, was soft at best. Their talisman tellingly didn't even appeal when he went down under the most minimal contact on his foot from Julian Alvarez, who had also effectively won the ball a split-second beforehand.

It has always been easy to paint Argentina as the villains - and that's not to say they haven't been the bad guys in the past. They have produced plenty of players down the years who are masters of the dark arts, including Diego Maradona, Diego Simeone and Antonio Rattin, to name but a few.

The current crop certainly aren't the most popular, either, especially given many of them participated in a racist chant against France's black players amid the celebrations after winning the 2024 Copa America, while the likes of Rodrigo De Paul and Romero have that nasty on-pitch edge that previous squads have possessed in abundance. In the eyes of many, the whole group is redeemed by the presence and gravitas of one man: Messi - and he delivered yet again in Atlanta.

Egypt's claim that La Pulga gets preferential treatment was understandable; the iconic attacker should have been sent off in the group stage for a nasty high challenge against Algeria, although FIFA blew any precedent into oblivion when the USMNT's Folarin Balogun had his one-game red card ban for a near-identical foul suspended following an extraordinary intervention from U.S. president Donald Trump.

FIFA chief Gianni Infantino has pulled strings for Messi in the past, ensuring he was involved at last year's Club World Cup by baselessly cherry-picking Inter Miami for qualification despite the fact they were not MLS champions. If you dig deeper, Argentina have also collected just three yellow cards throughout the tournament despite committing close to 60 fouls, according to the BBC - half the number England have after fewer infringements.

In the Egypt clash, though, you cannot argue that there was any foul play on the South Americans' part, or favouritism from the officials towards Messi, as they battled back to secure a remarkable late victory.

Speaking after the fraught encounter, an emotional Scaloni insisted the victory was a result of the "fight" of his team. "We made our supporters suffer even though we didn't have a bad game," he said. "I am a coach for moments like these. What we showed today goes beyond simply going through. We would have been eliminated if we hadn't fought."

He continued: "What happened today, even though we are not in the final, the magnitude of what was achieved can be compared to great things we have experienced before, because this team never gives up and continues to push forward and play its way no matter the circumstances.

"Against Cabo Verde, it was worse; we really looked in trouble. Today, even when it was 0-2, the feeling was that at some point we would get a chance and could turn it around. Today we played totally different soccer."

In truth, it is impossible to argue with Scaloni's assessment. So far in the knockout stages, Argentina have delivered the kinds of performances you expect of the holders - grinding out two sensational late victories despite only really playing at their best for fleeting moments in each tie.

Granted, the Albiceleste should have beaten rank underdogs Cape Verde and Egypt at a canter given the quality they have at their disposal, but when you are out of sorts, all that matters is the result - especially on world football's biggest stage.

In the end, spirit and togetherness has got them over the line, and they live to fight another day. While Argentina will have their haters, the nature of these incredible victories bears all the hallmarks of true champions.