‘I was very angry’: Messi opens up on penalty miss after Argentina’s quarterfinal charge

Argentina captain Lionel Messi admitted he feared he had let his teammates down after missing a first-half penalty as the defending champions battled back from two goals down to beat Egypt 3-2 and book their place in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals.

Messi’s missed spot kick, his fourth unsuccessful non-shootout penalty in FIFA World Cup history, the most by any player in the tournament, proved costly as Argentina trailed 2-0 midway through the second half. But goals from Cristian Romero, Messi and Enzo Fernández completed a stunning comeback to send La Albiceleste into the last eight, where they will face Switzerland.

Advertisement

“Yes, it was a huge relief for everyone,” Messi said after the match.

“I was very angry about the missed penalty and the way I took it. At that important moment, I felt I had let the group down. Thankfully, God had something special in store for me at the end. I was able to score the equaliser, which brought enormous relief and happiness for all of us and for these fans who always show what it means to be Argentine.”

The 39-year-old also admitted Argentina genuinely believed they were heading out of the tournament when Egypt doubled their advantage.

“When they went 2-0 up, it looked really bad. Coming back from 2-0 down in a knockout match is never easy,” he said.

“But when Cuti (Romero) scored, we all felt we were going to do it. We believed we had enough time to equalise, and even extra time if needed. Thank God we managed to finish it before that.”

Messi credited the team’s resilience for another memorable comeback.

“I’ve said it many times, this is a team that competes, gives everything and never gives up.”

Egypt stunned the holders in the 15th minute when Yasser Ibrahim headed home from Marwan Attia’s corner.

Argentina had the perfect chance to respond moments later after Nicolás Tagliafico won a penalty, but goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir produced a brilliant save to deny Messi. Shobeir also kept out efforts from Alexis Mac Allister and Julián Álvarez, while Messi struck the crossbar with a free-kick as Egypt carried a 1-0 lead into the interval.

Although Egypt had an early second-half goal ruled out by VAR, Mostafa Ziko soon made it 2-0 by finishing a swift counterattack after excellent work from Mohamed Salah and Haissem Hassan.

Argentina’s revival began in the 79th minute when Romero headed in Messi’s free-kick. Four minutes later, Messi levelled with a fierce strike from the edge of the area that clipped the goalkeeper’s gloves before crashing in off the underside of the crossbar.

With extra time looming, Fernández completed the dramatic turnaround in stoppage time, calmly sweeping home the winner to send the defending champions into the quarterfinals.