Argentina Prepares for Egypt Test Amid Messi Injury Concerns
Lionel Messi will be checked right up to kick-off as Argentina, bruised and breathless, turn from survival mode to knockout focus ahead of a last-16 clash with Egypt at the World Cup.
The holders staggered through a wild 3-2 extra-time win over Cape Verde in Miami, a night that left scars as well as relief. Messi, 39 and still the heartbeat of Lionel Scaloni’s side, took a head knock in a collision but stayed on for the full 120 minutes at the Hard Rock Stadium, the same city where he now plays his club football for Inter Miami.
He had already done his part. Of course he had.
Messi opened the scoring on 29 minutes, settling early nerves and tilting the tie Argentina’s way. Yet the game refused to follow the script. Cape Verde, written off by many before a ball was kicked, dragged the champions into deep water.
Deroy Duarte hauled the underdogs level and forced extra time, turning what was expected to be a routine passage into a tense ordeal. Argentina, pushed back and rattled, needed their other stars to step up.
The pressure finally told. Two minutes into extra time, Lautaro Martinez struck, restoring Argentina’s lead and briefly easing the tension that had begun to creep from the stands onto the pitch. Cape Verde refused to fold. Sidny Lopes Cabral hit back again, another equaliser, another jolt to Scaloni’s dugout.
At 2-2, with legs heavy and minds fraying, the world champions were staring at a crisis.
The escape came in cruel fashion for Cape Verde. In the 111th minute, Diney turned into his own net, the decisive own goal that pushed Argentina over the line and into the last eight. No flourish, no grand statement. Just survival.
Next stop: Atlanta, Georgia, where Egypt await in the round of 16. The title defence is alive, but it already feels like a campaign being lived on the edge.
Scaloni’s selection puzzle
Messi’s head injury is the headline concern, but not the only one. Facundo Medina was forced off, sparking fears of a muscular problem, yet Scaloni moved quickly to calm the situation.
“He finished very tired because we also used him quite a bit in attack,” the Argentina coach said. “He ended up cramping, but he’s okay.”
Cramp, not catastrophe. For a manager who appears to have settled on a clear first-choice XI, that matters.
The spine of this Argentina side is familiar and increasingly Premier League-flavoured. Emi Martinez of Aston Villa remains undisputed No1, his presence and penalty aura intact. In front of him, Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez form the central defensive pairing, a rugged, aggressive axis built for knockout football.
Scaloni’s 4-4-2 is compact but flexible. Natural central midfielders Rodrigo De Paul and Thiago Almada operate in the wide roles, De Paul as the relentless shuttler, Almada drifting higher as a No10 from the flank, linking lines and feeding the forwards.
Up top, the hierarchy is clear. Messi and Lautaro Martinez are the chosen strike partnership, the blend of genius and graft that delivered the biggest prizes of all. Julian Alvarez, the Atletico Madrid forward whose club future remains uncertain, waits on the bench, a luxury option in reserve rather than the focal point.
Argentina have their structure. They have their stars. What they don’t have, yet, is the smooth, inevitable rhythm of a champion in full flow.
Egypt now stand between them and the deeper stages of the tournament. With Messi under assessment and the reigning champions already stretched to extra time by Cape Verde, the question is no longer whether Argentina can win this World Cup again — it’s how much more punishment they can absorb along the way.
