Messi does it the hard way again

Argentina may be the reigning world champions but they are making the defence of their title increasingly difficult.

They survived another almighty scare before delivering a scarcely believable second-half comeback to break Egypt hearts and reach the last eight of the 2026 World Cup.

The reigning world champions - sent to extra time by tiny Cape Verde in the last round - had looked set for a shock exit against the Pharaohs, who led 2-0 thanks to goals from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico in Atlanta.

But Cristian Romero pulled one back 11 minutes from time before Lionel Messi – who had missed a first-half penalty – equalised five minutes later and set up a nail-biting finish.

Enzo Fernandez completed the comeback two minutes into injury time, heading home Lautaro Martinez’s cross to set up a quarter-final tie against Switzerland.

Argentina’s winner came on the counter attack just moments after Egypt felt they had been denied a penalty for a trip on Mohamed Salah, to the fury of many on their bench.

It was immensely sad for Egypt, who had not won a World Cup match prior to this tournament but were minutes away from eliminating the three-time winners.

On Monday, Charles de Ketelaere scored twice for Belgium as the United States became the third and final co-host to be knocked out of the World Cup.

It was a lethargic display by the US who had star striker Folarin Balogun in their starting line-up after President Donald Trump had pressured FIFA to review his ban following his red card in the previous round.

FIFA responded by suspending the automatic one-match ban for 12 months but their leading scorer at the tournament, with three goals, was isolated as Belgium dominated the game.

England produced their best display of the World Cup amid the passion and emotion of the Azteca Stadium to secure a dramatic 3-2 victory over Mexico and set up a quarter-final against Norway.

After Jude Bellingham opened the scoring for England against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium, he and Harry Kane were the last to peel away from the celebrations.

Left behind by their team-mates after the first wave of celebrations, the pair stood side by side, arms outstretched as they soaked in the acclaim from the England supporters who had flocked to Mexico City.

It will be one of the defining images of their 2026 World Cup campaign

Kane and Bellingham were vital in England’s exciting victory. 

Mikel Merino came off the bench to score an injury-time winner for Spain as they knocked Portugal - and Cristiano Ronaldo - out of the World Cup in a heavyweight last-16 tie in Dallas.

Spain had failed to create clear-cut openings in a poor second half before Ferran Torres played in the Arsenal midfielder, who slotted low past goalkeeper Diogo Costa in the 91st minute.

The 1-0 result was a repeat of their meeting at the same stage in 2010 and sets up a quarter-final tie with Belgium in Los Angeles on Friday.

The first quarter-final is France v Morocco on Thursday in Boston. With seven goals, Mbappe is the second top-scorer in this year’s tournament, level with Norway’s Erling Haaland. Messi leads with eight, even though he has missed two penalties so far. Kane has six too so the race for the Golden Boot continues to be immensely exciting.