Argentina's forward #10 Lionel Messi has tears in his eyes as celebrates winning the 2026 World Cup round of 16 football match between Argentina and Egypt at Atlanta Stadium in Atlanta on July 7, 2026. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)
Argentina captain, Lionel Messi, has explained that his tears after Tuesday’s World Cup comeback win over Egypt stemmed from guilt over a missed penalty, rather than pure joy at reaching the quarter-finals.
Argentina came from two goals down to beat Egypt 3-2 in Atlanta, with Messi missing a first-half penalty before recovering to set up Cristian Romero’s goal, score the equaliser himself, and see Enzo Fernandez complete the comeback deep into stoppage time.
Speaking after the match, Messi said the missed spot-kick weighed on him through the rest of the game.
“I cried because I felt that I let my teammates down, because of the penalty I missed… and the way I took it.
