Still Him

Seventy-nine minutes. That's how long Egypt had Argentina cornered, 2-0 up in Atlanta, with Messi shaking his head on the touchline and a nation's World Cup defense hanging by a thread.

Then it happened. Messi laid on the assist for Cristian Romero's header to make it 2-1. Four minutes later, he scored the equalizer himself, his 21st career World Cup goal. Enzo Fernández finished the job in the 92nd minute, and Argentina were through, 3-2, somehow.

At 39 years old, in what's presumed to be his last World Cup, Messi didn't just show up, he authored the whole rescue. Nine goal contributions so far this tournament, seven goals level with Mbappé and Haaland in the Golden Boot race, and now a personal World Cup goal tally sitting at 21, one clear of Mbappé.

The uncomfortable truth for Argentina: this team has leaned on him for almost everything. The build-up play, the chaos in behind, the moments when nothing else is working, it still runs through one man. Against Egypt, that dependency should have been the story. Instead it was the answer.

Next up: Switzerland in the quarterfinal on Saturday, a side built specifically to stop players exactly like him, Granit Xhaka and Remo Freuler screening the middle, Manuel Akanji and Nico Elvedi built to physically nullify a No. 10 who doesn't need much space to hurt you. If Switzerland can't find a way to shut down the zone Messi wants to occupy, Argentina march on. If they can, Saturday might be the day the run finally catches up with him.

Either way, three more wins stand between Messi and the one thing that's eluded him at international level for a while: a repeat.