Argentina and Egipto were set to meet Tuesday at 13:00 Argentine time at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta in a World Cup round of 16 match that had one final detail still hanging in the air: Lionel Scaloni had made up his mind, but had not told his players or the reporters how he planned to line them up.
The match carried live TV and streaming reach across Argentina, with DSports, Telefé, TyC Sports and TV Pública airing it and DGO, Mi Telefé, Flow, Telecentro Play, Paramount+ and Disney+ Premium carrying it online. François Letexier was the referee, and the game drew attention not only because it was a knockout date in Atlanta, but because Argentina was the betting favorite at 1.44 even though Egipto arrived unbeaten and a draw paid up to 4.76.
That interest was built on two clean runs into the round of 16. Argentina won Group J by beating Argelia 3-0, Austria 2-0 and Jordania 3-1, then survived Cabo Verde 3-2 in extra time after Lionel Messi scored in regulation, Deroy Duarte answered for Cabo Verde, and Cristian Romero’s header, which deflected off Diney Borges, settled it after Lisandro Martínez and Sidny Lopes Cabral traded extra-time goals. Egipto finished second in Group G with five points, drawing 1-1 with Bélgica, beating Nueva Zelanda 3-1 and sharing a 1-1 result with Irán before eliminating Australia on penalties after 120 minutes ended 1-1.
Scaloni’s own clues suggested a team that would not be a mystery for long. He said, “El equipo lo tengo, pero no se lo dije a los jugadores, por lo que no se lo voy a decir a ustedes (por los periodistas),” and added that people already had a sense of where he was going because Nicolás Novello had been feeding him what journalists were saying. The planned changes were clear enough: Nicolás Tagliafico for Facundo Medina at left back, Julián Alvarez for Lautaro Martínez at center forward and Leandro Paredes for Thiago Almada, with Nicolás González also in contention for Alexis Mac Allister or Enzo Fernández.
By kickoff, the only real unknown was whether Scaloni would stick to the version he had already settled on. The rest was fixed: a place in the closing stage of the round of 16, two unbeaten teams, and a seat held open in Atlanta for whichever side handled the pressure best.
