Egypt, Argentina and Colombia advance to World Cup Round of 16

Egypt, Argentina and Colombia advance to World Cup Round of 16

Egypt, Argentina and Colombia secured their places in the Round of 16 on Friday, the final day of the Round of 32. The matches featured a historic first for the Pharaohs, a narrow victory for Colombia, and a dramatic escape for the reigning world champions against a debutant nation.

Argentina avoided a stunning upset in Miami Gardens, defeating Cape Verde 3-2 in extra time. The match pitted the world's second-ranked team against Cape Verde, ranked 64th, in what was the African island nation's first-ever World Cup appearance.

Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 29th minute, controlling a long diagonal pass and flicking it over goalkeeper Vozinha. The goal was Messi's seventh of the 2026 tournament and his 20th overall in World Cup history, extending his streak to eight consecutive World Cup games with a goal.

Cape Verde equalized in the 59th minute when Deroy Duarte scored after a pass from Ryan Mendes. The match remained tied until extra time, where Lisandro Martínez scored to make it 2-1 for Argentina. However, Sidny Lopes Cabral leveled the score at 2-2 in the 103rd minute with a curling shot from the left edge of the penalty box.

Argentina finally reclaimed the lead in the 111th minute. A corner from Messi deflected off a Cape Verde defender and into the net, resulting in an own goal attributed to Diney Borges. Despite the loss, Cape Verde's 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha recorded eight saves in the match and ends the tournament with 25 saves, leading all goalkeepers. He joins Peter Shilton and Dino Zoff as the only keepers to record two clean sheets at age 40 or older in World Cup history.

In a separate clash, Egypt made history by securing its first-ever World Cup knockout-round win. Egypt defeated Australia 4-2 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 following 120 minutes of play.

Emam Ashour gave Egypt an early lead in the 13th minute with a header following a cross from Karim Hafez. Australia equalized in the 55th minute when a set piece from Aiden O’Neill deflected off Mohamed Hany and past goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir.

Australia's Patrick Beach kept Egypt at bay with a critical save in the final minutes of regular time. After a scoreless extra-time period, the match went to a shootout. Egypt took an early lead after a miss by Australia, with goals from Mahmoud Saber and Ramy Rabia. Mohamed Salah then scored a shot down the middle to make it 3-2. After Lucas Herrington hit the bar for Australia, Hossam Abdelmaguid scored the final penalty to seal the victory.

Meanwhile, at Arrowhead Stadium, Colombia advanced by defeating Ghana 1-0. The only goal of the match came early in the first half when John Arias scored following a cross from Luis Suárez, who had entered the game as a substitute for the injured Jhon Córdoba in the 8th minute.

Colombia's victory extends its unbeaten World Cup streak to seven matches, consisting of five wins and two draws. Colombia is scheduled to face Switzerland in Vancouver on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.

The Round of 16 begins on Saturday, with the schedule shifting to two matches per day. Co-hosts Canada will face Morocco in Houston, followed by a match between France and Paraguay in Philadelphia.