Lionel Messi's Argentina face Mohamed Salah's Egypt in a World Cup Round of 16 clash on Tuesday at Atlanta Stadium, with a quarterfinal berth on the line. The defending champions must navigate past the African side to keep their tournament dreams alive.
Messi enters the contest level with France's Kylian Mbappe and Norway's Erling Haaland on seven goals in the Golden Boot race. A win would give the Argentine superstar a chance to reclaim outright lead in the scoring charts.
Beyond individual accolades, Messi is also one goal ahead of Mbappe in the race to become the tournament's all-time leading scorer with 20 goals. The 39-year-old will start despite playing the full 120 minutes in Argentina's last match, head coach Lionel Scaloni confirmed.
Argentina scraped past World Cup debutants Cape Verde in extra time, courtesy of an own goal by Diney Borges. The narrow escape has left Scaloni wary of another stern examination against an unbeaten Egypt side.
"We are on the alert just like we were before the match against Cape Verde," Scaloni told reporters. He added that Egypt possess quality across the pitch and play good football that always tests opponents.
"Salah is a great player. It will be a pleasure to face him," the Argentina coach said.
"Our team knows how to deal with great players, and we always work hard for it."
Egypt reached the last 16 by eliminating Australia on penalties and are chasing a historic quarterfinal appearance. Salah has netted once in four matches at the tournament but remains the Pharaohs' primary attacking weapon.
Head coach Hossam Hassan dismissed suggestions his team would feel overawed by Argentina's pedigree. "This is a World Cup, a great opportunity to prove ourselves and that we belong here," Hassan said.
The winner advances to face either Switzerland or Colombia in the quarterfinals. Victory for Egypt would represent an unprecedented achievement in their World Cup history.
