Lionel Messi looked like a man who couldn't quite believe what he'd just done. After a forgettable first half against Egypt — including a missed penalty — he dragged Argentina from 2-0 down to 3-2 winners across a 13-minute stretch that had nothing to do with football and everything to do with something harder to define. He engineered the cross for Romero's header. He beat three men and set up Martínez. He slammed home the equalizer. And when Enzo Fernández jumped to win it at the death, you couldn't rule out Messi having willed that too.
His expression at the final whistle said it all. Samuel L. Jackson spared by a hail of bullets in Pulp Fiction. That's what it looked like. I don't do GOAT debates, but what Messi did from the 77th minute onward was as breathtaking as anything an individual has produced in a single passage of play at this tournament. His teammates threw him into the air afterward. Nobody was entirely sure he'd come back down.
Argentina can't keep doing this the hard way
The problem is that Switzerland are next, and Norway or England potentially after that. Surviving on Messi moments alone won't cut it at that level. Scaloni clearly senses the danger — he's shifted to a deeper-lying playmaker in Paredes over winger Almada — but Argentina are still getting picked apart in transition, five goals conceded across three games, and their midfield has been largely invisible outside of set pieces.
Egypt's Haissem Hassan looked like Lamine Yamal at times. That's a problem. Mostafa Shobeir in goal was brilliant, yes, but Argentina can't keep needing miracles just to stay in it. If Scaloni doesn't find a fix before the quarterfinals, the tournament will find it for him.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan, for his part, has a right to be furious — you don't often lose a game you led 2-0 against the world champions — but his conspiracy talk over the disallowed Ziko goal is misplaced. A step on the foot is a foul, full stop. VAR applied the rule correctly. What he probably doesn't want to examine too closely is Salah trying to manufacture a penalty and losing possession for the third goal, or his defender losing Fernández on a looping cross with nobody else in the postcode.
The U.S. got exactly the result they deserved against Belgium
Many bookmakers had the USMNT as favorites. Home advantage is real, Belgium had been poor throughout the group stage, and a combined XI of both squads would still include five Americans. So let's bury the narrative that this was some foregone conclusion Belgium were always going to win.
What actually happened is that the U.S. weren't prepared and made individual errors that a better-organized side punished without mercy. That's on the players. It's also on Pochettino — who, incidentally, should not be receiving any long-term contract conversations until someone explains the four-year offer that was dangled publicly before the tournament even finished. Whoever leaked that deserves a stern conversation.
The Balogun Affair muddied the water further. FIFA's Disciplinary Committee published no written reasons for their decision. The U.S. Soccer Federation lobbied behind the scenes. The U.S. President called Infantino directly. Infantino said the process was independent and already underway — then stood back while USSF made themselves look like they were willing to bend rules when it suited them. It attracted ill will from every corner of the game and achieved nothing. Belgium won anyway.
- Belgium's Charles De Ketelaere and Dodi Lukébakio were the standouts — Lukaku added three goals in three substitute appearances
- The USMNT gave away too much too easily and never recovered after losing their shape
- Malik Tillman's free kick reputation needs revisiting — one was a goalkeeping error, the other hit a deflection
England, Spain, and the question of who's actually the threat
England haven't played well since the 4-2 opening win over Croatia. They needed Kane and Bellingham to bail them out against Panama, required a late comeback against Congo DR, and on Sunday relied on Mexico errors and some absurd Jordan Pickford saves just to advance. They lost the xG battle. None of that matters as much as the fact they keep finding ways through.
Grit in knockout football is underrated. So is having two genuinely elite players running hot at the right moment. England also haven't come close to their ceiling yet, which means against Norway they don't need a miracle — they just need to be themselves and let the talent gap do the work. That's a position most teams at this stage would take.
Spain, meanwhile, are somehow operating under the radar despite being European champions, second in the world, and yet to concede a single goal. Yamal hasn't caught fire yet, Williams is managing his fitness, and De La Fuente's patient, collective approach doesn't generate the headlines that Haaland or Mbappé do. His squad runs on structure more than star power — the Euros proved that formula works. Against Portugal, the decisive moment only came late through a Fabián Ruiz moment of quality. That's fine. Spain don't need to dazzle to win. Their clean sheet record alone makes them dangerous in any market.
And then there's Cristiano Ronaldo, who said after Portugal's defeat to Spain that this was his last World Cup. At 41, he played every minute bar nine. He didn't perform particularly well — the goals against Uzbekistan aside — and Portugal may genuinely be better served by Gonçalo Ramos going forward. But 23 years of international football, nearly 1,000 club and country goals, and he's the one taking his time to decide whether he's actually done. The 2030 World Cup is in Portugal. You do the math.
