Seeing Lionel Messi break down in tears after Argentina’s thrilling victory over Egypt shocked fans worldwide. Now, the captain has revealed the emotional reason why he burst into tears at the final whistle.
Trailing 1-0 early in the match, Argentina were awarded a penalty against the African side. Uncharacteristically, Messi failed to convert from the spot—and despite his team’s eventual heroic comeback, that costly miss weighed heavily on the legendary forward throughout the night.
“I cried because I felt that I let my teammates down because of the penalty I missed… and the way I took it,” Messi said. “But thankfully once again, God had something special for me in the end. I’m very happy.”
Lionel Messi continues making World Cup history
By missing from twelve yards out, Messi etched his name into the record books for the wrong reasons with an unfortunate World Cup statistic. However, he quickly redeemed himself in the second half, assisting Cristian Romero for Argentina’s opening goal before netting his eighth goal of the tournament just minutes later to draw level.
Lionel Messi celebrating
With that strike, Messi achieved a feat not seen at the tournament since the 1930 World Cup. His goal also widened his lead over Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland at the top of the scoring charts, turning up the heat in an intense race for the Golden Boot.
Despite his heroic solo performance, Messi deflected praise to his teammates following the victory. The captain acknowledged it was a grueling, hard-fought win, emphasizing that every single player was crucial in keeping the dream of back-to-back World Cup titles alive.
Egypt voice fierce accusations
The drama didn’t end at the final whistle. After the match, Egypt manager Hossam Hassan openly accused match officials of favoring Messi and Argentina, claiming several controversial refereeing decisions directly caused the African side’s defeat.
Hassan was far from the only member of the Egyptian contingent fuming over the officiating. Mostafa Ziko also blasted the refereeing crew alleging that the game was ‘rigged’ to ensure Messi and Argentina advanced to the next round.
