The FIFA World Cup 2026 delivered one of the tournament’s most unforgettable nights as the Round of 16 concluded with two nail-biting results.
In Atlanta, Argentina looked dead and buried, trailing Egypt 2-0 with just 11 minutes of normal time remaining. Then Cristian “Cuti” Romero pulled one back in the 79th minute. Lionel Messi, in what many expect to be his final World Cup, equalized in the 83rd. And Enzo Fernández completed the stunning comeback in the 92nd minute, sending Argentina into delirium.
Messi was reduced to tears at the final whistle. “It was a mix of happiness and relief, because we wanted to keep going. It couldn’t end like today — we didn’t want to leave,” the Argentine icon told reporters. “We wanted to keep being here.”
In the other Round of 16 match, Switzerland and Colombia played out a tense 0-0 stalemate through 120 minutes before the Swiss prevailed 4-3 on penalties, with goalkeeper Gregor Kobel the hero. It marks Switzerland’s first World Cup quarter-final since 1954. They will now face Argentina on Sunday.
Meanwhile, off the pitch, the FBI and US Department of Justice prosecutors have begun taking testimony to investigate the financial operations of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) in the United States. Investigators are examining how the entity channeled hundreds of millions of dollars through the US financial system during the tournament, and whether any of those transactions may constitute federal offenses.
