Egypt vs Argentina: Messi and Salah Finally Share a Pitch, 15 Years After Their First Brush

Egypt vs Argentina: Messi and Salah Finally Share a Pitch, 15 Years After Their First Brush

Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah have crossed paths only once before today, and neither man was famous yet. At the 2011 Under-20 World Cup, a 19-year-old Salah scored a penalty against Argentina in a match almost nobody outside Cairo noticed. Fifteen years later, both are captains, both are the defining players their countries have ever produced, and both arrive in Atlanta off knockout wins that pushed their nerves to the limit. Argentina needed extra time against Cabo Verde. Egypt needed penalties against Australia. Today, for the first time in senior football, they finally share a pitch.

Two Careers That Almost Crossed Before

Long before either man became the face of his nation, Messi and Salah brushed past each other on a football pitch without anyone noticing. At the 2011 Under-20 World Cup in Colombia, a 19-year-old Salah stepped up to take a penalty against Argentina in the Round of 16. He, now unsurprisingly, scored it.

Egypt lost the match anyway, and the moment vanished into the record books as a footnote nobody thought to revisit. Fifteen years on, that footnote has become the headline.

Neither man played in either match. Today in Atlanta is the first time these two teams, and these two captains, actually meet.

But the emotional weight is not symmetrical:

• Messi, at 39 and almost certainly playing his final World Cup, arrives with nothing left to prove. 
• Salah, 34, is captaining Egypt into a Round of 16 for the first time in the nation's history and is still chasing the one trophy that has eluded him.
• Argentine fans call Messi La Pulga, the flea, a nickname that shrinks him physically while elevating him into myth. Egyptians call Salah Al-Fir'awn, the Pharaoh, a title carrying the weight of something ancient and permanent.

Tonight, by the flea is expected to put down the Pharaoh, but after the Capo Verde scare, you can’t expect an “any man’s game”. Ensure to see our Egypt vs Argentina prediction.

Argentina: Champions Living Dangerously

Lionel Scaloni's side needed 111 minutes and an extra-time own goal just to see off World Cup debutants Cabo Verde in the Round of 32. It was a 3-2 scare that came close to becoming one of the great upsets in tournament history.

But the physical cost was real. Facundo Medina was taken off with severe cramp, while Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Gonzalez played through injury after Argentina had already used every substitute.

Messi remains the story regardless of the scare. He shares the Golden Boot lead with seven goals, has scored in every match so far, and has now found the net in eight consecutive World Cup appearances.

Another goal today would put him level with Just Fontaine as one of only a handful of players in history to score in five straight games at a single tournament.

Our World Cup predictions

Egypt: Making History With Every Match

No Egyptian side has ever reached this stage of a World Cup before, and the betting sites don’t think they’ll make it past this one.

Hossam Hassan's team beat Australia on penalties after a tense 1-1 draw, with Salah stepping up in the shootout despite carrying a hamstring concern and rolling home a composed panenka.

The concern for Egypt is that their attack has largely been a one-man operation. Omar Marmoush has gone 316 minutes at this tournament without a goal or an assist, a troubling stat given the step up in class Argentina represents.

Salah has contributed a goal and two assists so far, and Hassan's side will need him at his sharpest if they are to complete what would be one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history.