Lionel Messi inspired Argentina to one of the great World Cup comebacks as they came back from 2-0 down to beat Egypt 3-2 and seal their place in the quarter-finals.Argentina had found themselves behind at half-time in the World Cup for the first time in 16 years after Yasser Ibrahim’s 15th-minute header and a Messi penalty saved by Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir.The reigning champions appeared to be on the brink of elimination when Mostafa Ziko put Egpyt 2-0 up in the 67th minute, after already having seen a goal ruled out for a VAR intervention on a challenge in the build-up.Lionel Scaloni’s side had other ideas. Cristian Romero gave them hope with his 79th-minute header, before the 39-year-old Messi sent Argentinians into delirium with his improbable — or perhaps probable — equaliser off the crossbar. There had been four minutes and 18 seconds between the goals.And they completed the fightback in stoppage time, as Enzo Fernandez rose highest in the 92nd minute to head home a brilliant cross from Lautaro Martinez. It left Messi in tears during the celebrations.Here, James Horncastle, Simon Hughes, Liam Tharme and Mark Carey analyse what just happened.What happened in that dramatic final stretch?To be a cardiologist in Argentina.This team will give you a heart attack. It was like this in Qatar four years ago. Argentina were always on the brink. They whip up hysteria and euphoria in equal measure. After being taken to extra time by Cape Verde in Miami, Argentina found themselves down and out in Atlanta.They fell behind. They did everything to get level. They should have been in the lead. But it didn’t look like being their day. Messi missed a penalty and Shobeir saved everything.When Scaloni made changes, Egypt doubled their lead. Requiem for Messi’s World Cup career were being written. But once again, his left foot served as CTRL+ALT+DELETE.He crossed for Romero. He smashed one in off the bottom of the bar and the stadium erupted. Argentina believed again. And as they did, they appeared to lose themselves too.Egypt piled forward. Leandro Paredes had to make a last-gasp challenge in a one-on-one situation. Otherwise, it was curtains.He made it. And, just when the game seemed bound for extra time, Argentina won it with Lautaro crossing for the kind of header Fernandez scores regularly for Chelsea.Scaloni talked about the intangibles of this team after the Cape Verde win. The strength of character. The resilience. Just when you think Argentina are out, they pull themselves back in. An entire country needs a lie-down.James HorncastleShobeir thwarts Messi and Co — until…Shobeir’s first-half saves against Argentina, firstly from a Lionel Messi penalty and then from Julian Alvarez’s low drive (below), underlined why some Egyptians think he has emerged as the next great goalkeeper from the African continent.He has enjoyed a magnificent World Cup where the performances of largely unknown goalkeepers such as Cape Verde’s Vozinha and Curacao’s Eloy Room have caught a lot of attention.Yet Shobeir would appear to be at a different level altogether to his fellow underdog counterparts. When FIFA names its all-star squad of players from this tournament, it would be a misjudgement if he is not in it.He has made important saves against Belgium, New Zealand, Iran, Australia and now Argentina, against whom he was unfortunate not to stop both goals in ordinary time. While Romero’s header was at point blank range, he saw Messi’s half-volley late through a crowd of defenders. There is something about the way this goalkeeper holds himself, however, adding a layer of authority to his presence.Shobeir comes from a family who know all about the unique challenges in this job: his father, Ahmed, played 107 times for his country and was their first-choice goalkeeper at the 1990 World Cup.Mohamed Salah was always going to make more headlines than any other Egyptian player at this World Cup but a supporting cast including Emam Ashour, Marwan Attia and Mohamed Hany have been just as important. No more so, however, than the marvellous Shobeir.If European clubs were not paying attention to Shobeir, they surely will be now. It was just a shame for him and his team that they fell victim to a remarkable Argentina recovery.Simon HughesWhat’s behind Messi’s poor World Cup penalty record?Even when you know how average Lionel Messi’s penalty taking is, each time he misses it feels inconceivable.This is a player who can do everything. In the same half that Shobeir read his penalty, hit low and across the goalkeeper, Messi bent a free-kick onto the post from way out.Perhaps this explains the trend: penalties are a psychological skill, not a technical one. And Messi has never truly excelled at them. He does not have a stock finish or routine, and in recent years has preferred the slow run-up to watch goalkeepers and then shoot once they dive early. Opponents have clocked this.Messi tried to score the same penalty he missed against Austria. Throughout his career, he’s managed to wrong-foot goalkeepers and shoot to his natural (left) side. Reversing it has been a problem, as his run-up has telegraphed his intentions and, unlike Harry Kane, he doesn’t hit them hard enough to beat the goalkeeper for speed.His penalty record now reads four from eight at World Cups (excluding shoot-outs — he did score from the spot in the decisive one against France in the 2022 World Cup final), and he’s the first to miss two penalties in matches at one finals. Not that it mattered in the end…Liam TharmeShould Ziko’s 67th-minute goal have stood?Attia’s challenge on Martinez in the build-up to Ziko’s 67th-minute effort was normal contact. It was almost 100 yards from goal and Argentina had every opportunity to regroup and defend — no wonder Egypt felt aggrieved the goal was disallowed after a VAR review.There was some contact in the far corner from Argentina’s goal, both foot on foot and a fleeting hold of the shirt, but there was no offence here. It was an astonishing intervention and a massive overreach of the VAR’s role to correct only clear and obvious errors.The VAR routinely checks the attacking phase of play before every goal, and here would have gone back to the turnover of possession.For a goal to be chalked off, there needs to be a clear foul. As a general rule of thumb, the longer the time and distance between a challenge and a goal, the more serious the alleged offence needs to be.But there was no offence to speak of here, and nothing anywhere near the threshold for VAR to get involved.Graham Scott