Argentina 3-2 Egypt: FIFA World Cup Round of 16 Match Report

Argentina 3-2 Egypt, and a second consecutive knockout tie Argentina won by a single goal after going behind. Egypt led at half-time; Argentina scored three times after the break to survive.

Trailing at the interval of a Round of 16 match, having already needed extra time to get past Cape Verde Islands, is not the profile of a side that won its group with eight goals and one conceded. But it became Argentina's whole knockout identity: 3-2, 3-2, 3-1 after extra time, 2-1, and finally a 1-0 defeat in the final.

Egypt's exit ends a tournament in which they never lost inside ninety minutes until this match. Five games, one defeat, and a knockout run that included a shoot-out win over Australia.

Argentina won Group J with the maximum nine points — 3-0 against Algeria, 2-0 against Austria, 3-1 against Jordan. Eight scored, one conceded. In the Round of 32 they needed extra time to beat Cape Verde Islands 3-2, having been pegged back to 1-1 after ninety minutes.

Egypt qualified from Group G on five points, drawing 1-1 with Belgium, beating New Zealand 3-1 and drawing 1-1 with Iran. They then held Australia 1-1 through 120 minutes in the Round of 32 and won the shoot-out 4-2, having led that match at half-time as well.

Egypt's habit of scoring first is the thread. They led at half-time against Australia and again here, and in both matches their opponents had to chase. Against Australia it produced a shoot-out; against Argentina it produced three goals in reply.

Argentina advanced to a quarter-final against Switzerland, winning 3-1 after extra time from 1-1 at ninety minutes, then beat England 2-1 in the semi-final before losing the final 1-0 to Spain in extra time.

Four knockout matches, four one-goal margins, two of them requiring 120 minutes. A team that had swept its group without being troubled did not win a single knockout tie comfortably, and this was the second of them.

For Egypt, a Round of 16 exit having led at half-time is the tournament's story in miniature. Five matches, one defeat in normal time, eight goals scored, and elimination by the side that reached the final.