Messi and Salah Advance to the 2026 World Cup
Argentina, Colombia, and Egypt were the last teams to advance to the Round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup. Argentina pulled off a hard-fought victory, Egypt won a World Cup playoff match for the first time in history, and Colombia comfortably defeated Ghana.
With the conclusion of the Round of 16 matches, all pairings for the next round have been determined. The Round of 16 matches will begin on July 4, when the battle for the trophy will become even more intense.
All Round of 16 matches at the 2026 World Cup have concluded. Argentina, Colombia, and Egypt secured the final spots in the next round. Each of these teams did it in its own way: Argentina survived a real nail-biter, Colombia confidently got the job done, and Egypt made history.
Argentina Nearly Lost It All
The reigning world champions faced Cape Verde and were considered the clear favorites. But the match turned out to be much tougher than fans had expected. Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 30th minute after a precise pass from Lisandro Martínez. Thanks to this, Argentina set another record—the team went into halftime leading in World Cup playoff matches for the fifth consecutive time.
However, after halftime, Cape Verde equalized, and the game went into overtime. Early in overtime, Lisandro Martínez put Argentina back in the lead, but the opponent quickly responded with a second goal. Cape Verde’s second goal deserves special mention. It was scored by Sidney Lopes Cabral—a player for the Turkish club Trabzonspor, who plays alongside Ukrainians Ruslan Malinovskyi and Arseniy Batagov.
The winning moment came in the 111th minute. After a corner kick taken by Messi, Cristian Romero shot on goal, and the ball ricocheted off defender Dini Borges and into the net. FIFA recorded this goal as an own goal, so Messi did not receive an assist, but what matters most for Argentina is the 3–2 victory and their advancement to the Round of 16.
Colombia beat Ghana without any surprises
In a parallel match, Colombia defeated Ghana 1–0. The only goal came in the 14th minute, scored by John Arias off a cross from Luis Suárez.
After the break, Luis Díaz even put the ball in the net a second time, but the referees disallowed the goal for offside. Toward the end of the match, the Ghanaians tried to mount a comeback but were unable to get a single shot on target. Colombia comfortably secured the victory.
Egypt Rewrote Its Own History
The most emotional match was the one between Egypt and Australia. The Egyptians opened the scoring early—in the 13th minute, Emam Ashour scored off a pass from Karim Hafez. Australia equalized in the second half after an unfortunate own goal by Mohamed Hani. Regular and extra time ended in a draw.
Late in extra time, Mohamed Salah had a chance to clinch the victory, but the Australian goalkeeper saved his team with a stop on a dangerous shot. The outcome was decided by a penalty shootout, where the Egyptians proved more accurate, winning 4–2. This is a historic result for the Egyptian national team. The team has won a World Cup knockout match for the first time and will advance to this stage of the tournament for the first time since 1934.
The Round of 16 matchups are now set
Following the conclusion of the Round of 32, the full bracket for the next round has been set. The matches will take place from July 4 to July 7. Round of 16 schedule (Kyiv time):
- July 4, 8:00 p.m. — Canada vs. Morocco;
- July 5, 12:00 a.m. — Paraguay vs. France;
- July 5, 11:00 p.m. — Brazil vs. Norway;
- July 6, 3:00 a.m. — Mexico vs. England;
- July 6, 10:00 p.m. — Portugal vs. Spain;
- July 7, 3:00 a.m. — United States vs. Belgium;
- July 7, 7:00 p.m. — Argentina vs. Egypt;
- July 7, 11:00 p.m. — Switzerland vs. Colombia.
Eight matches lie ahead, after which the World Cup quarterfinalists will be determined. Already in the Round of 16, fans can look forward to several top-tier matchups, including Portugal vs. Spain and Argentina vs. Egypt, where Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah could face off on the field.
As a reminder, the knockout stage is currently underway at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Swiss national team easily defeated Algeria 2–0 and secured its spot in the round of 16.
