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Lionel Messi and Argentina face Egypt in their 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 match on Tuesday, July 7, 2026 at 12:00 PM ET from Atlanta Stadium.
Argentina went unbeaten in their group stage, beating Algeria 3–0 in their opening match, Austria 2–0 in their second match and Jordan 3–1 in their third match. In the Round of 16, World Cup Cinderella Cape Verde gave the defending champions all they could handle, but Argentina won 3-2 in extra time. Lionel Messi is tied with Norway’s Erling Haaland and France’s Kylian Mbappé at the top Golden Boot Racewho has so far scored seven times in the tournament.
Egypt drew 1–1 with Belgium in their opening match, beat New Zealand 3–1 in their second match, drew 1–1 with Iran in their third match and drew 1–1 with Australia before progressing on penalties in the round of 16.
Below are the details on how to watch.
How to watch Argentina vs. Egypt
Argentina vs Egypt preview
Lionel Messi against Egypt’s back line is the clearest point of pressure in this game.
Argentina are still running through Messi and he is in sharp form. Argentina also keep the ball well and create a steady flow of attacking sequences, so Messi is likely to keep getting touches in the places that decide the game.
Egypt has enough opposition to make that fight real. Mohamed Salah has been their main creator with 15 chances created. Egypt’s crossing play has been productive enough to score 3 main goals, meaning they can force Argentina to defend and prevent Messi from living in the final third all game. If Egypt can survive the early Messi touches and make Argentina defend wide serves and second balls, the match will remain tense.
Watch the first stretch as Messi starts to find pockets around the box, because that will tell you if Egypt have the hottest finisher of the tournament or spend the day crawling.
Player to watch
Lionel Messi
Forward
Argentina
It’s hard to think of things that haven’t been said about Messi, but the Inter Miami forward has now scored in eight straight World Cup games. In his career, Messi has 12 goal contributions in the knockout phase of the World Cup. He remains at the heart of everything Argentina do, and even at his age that could be enough for Argentina to win a second title in a row.
Odds for Argentina vs. Egypt
Learn more about Argentina vs. Egypt and watch the full FIFA World Cup schedule on FOX Sports!
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