Argentina were heading out of the World Cup, then Messi did this...

Argentina might be the reigning world champions but the current squad seem to badly lack the quality and energy of that 2022 World Cup-winning vintage. And when they trailed Egypt 2-0 late on in their last-16 clash in Atlanta, the jig appeared to be up.

Lionel Messi had been dismal. He had played most of the game at walking pace, aptly illustrating the lethargy of this stale side and had almost no influence on proceedings. Another missed penalty – becoming the first player to miss two spot-kicks, excluding shootouts, in the same World Cup – was itself a summation of that, his effort almost half-hearted.

But as Miguel Delaney wrote in his report from Atlanta Stadium, suddenly the 39-year-old changed pace and transformed another World Cup epic – turning what looked like one of the greatest-ever knockout upsets into one of the greatest-ever comebacks.

Egypt have been calling it one of the greatest-ever injustices and they can be justifiably aggrieved, having a sumptuous goal ruled out for a foul miles earlier in the play and then not seeing Enzo Fernandez's injury-time winner chalked off despite a potential foul in the build-up.

But back to Messi. On 73 minutes, with his team trailing 2-0, he suddenly picked the ball up at the corner of the Egyptian box and weaved straight through at pace. It was the first time he’d done anything like that in the contest, and it was as if a switch had been flicked. There’d certainly been a shift in the game. There was a new intensity about Argentina, as Egypt drastically dropped back.

The Argentine icon set up Cristian Romero's first, scored his side's second and then watched Fernandez – who may or may not be Real Madrid-bound... – head home the winner to complete a remarkable act of escapology, as Richard Jolly analysed. Messi was left in tears and Argentina confirmed themselves as the World Cup's most box-office team.

Switzerland now await in the quarter-finals after they edged a dour last-16 clash with the Argentines' South American rivals Colombia 4-3 on penalties, following a dismal 0-0 draw. If Messi and co. get through that, it could be England in the semi-finals...

Meanwhile, the fallout from Donald Trump's intervention to get Fifa to overturn Folarin Balogun's one-match ban for his red card against Bosnia continued. Even with Balogun, USA were, of course, demolished 4-1 by Belgium in a humiliating defeat in the last 16 and Richard Jolly has discussed 

the limits to the USA’s power, on and off the pitch. Miguel Delaney has dug deeper into how Gianni Infantino's shameless "Trumpification" of Fifa may backfire in the long term and have a poisonous effect on football's very future.

Luke Baker | Deputy Sports Editor

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