Lionel Messi was in tears after Argentina staged a remarkable comeback to beat Egypt 3-2 and qualify for the quarterfinal of the 2026 World Cup, and he said he had his reasons.
Argentina were two goals down and in danger of elimination from the World Cup with 11 minutes left on the clock before they fought back to stop Egypt.
Messi has opened up on his tears.
“I cried because I felt that I let my teammates down because of the penalty I missed…and the way I took it,” he revealed.
“But thankfully once again, God had something special for me in the end. I’m very happy.”
Messi scored the crucial equaliser to bring the scores to 2-2 after he assisted for Argentina’s first goal.
He is now the leading scorer at the World Cup with eight goals.
He was also full of praise for his team, who are defending the crown they won in Qatar four years ago.
“We didn’t want and didn’t deserve to go home, we could not let it end like this,” he said.
“This group really deserved to keep going. We never give up, at all, never.”
