Argentina turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 victory over Egypt and booked a place in the quarter-finals of the Coupe du monde 2026. The turnaround came in the last 15 minutes, with Lionel Messi equalising in the 84th minute before Enzo Fernández struck in the 92nd.
That is why François Letexier is being searched now: he was in the middle of a finish that changed by the minute. He handed out several yellow cards in the confusion late on, after Argentina had already narrowed the gap through Romero's header in the 79th minute and then levelled through Messi's half-volley five minutes later.
Messi's goal was his eighth of the Mondial, and the pass that set up Romero also gave him a ninth assist in the tournament. That detail matters because Argentina were down to the wire, trailing by two goals with 10 minutes left in normal time, before the match flipped almost entirely inside a quarter of an hour.
Scaloni tried to steady the side by bringing on Medina and Otamendi to harden the back line, while Montiel came on for Molina. Egypt answered with Trezeguet for Hassan, but the changes did not stop the collapse. What looked secure at 2-0 became fragile once the first goal went in, and by the time Letexier was booking players amid the late confusion, Argentina had already taken control of the game.
The result leaves Argentina moving on, but it also sharpens the question of how Egypt let a two-goal lead slip in such a short span. For now, the answer is simple enough: Messi dragged them back, Fernández finished it, and François Letexier presided over a closing spell that felt like it lasted only minutes and changed everything.
