{"id":918343,"date":"2026-07-08T14:13:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/08\/lionel-messis-world-cup-heroics-save-argentina-hes-our-guide-mlssoccer-com\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T14:13:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:13:25","slug":"lionel-messis-world-cup-heroics-save-argentina-hes-our-guide-mlssoccer-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/08\/lionel-messis-world-cup-heroics-save-argentina-hes-our-guide-mlssoccer-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi&#8217;s World Cup heroics save Argentina: \u201cHe\u2019s our guide\u201d | MLSSoccer.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<div xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n<p>  <main role=\"main\" id=\"main-content\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-label=\"Page main content\"><\/p>\n<div data-bucket-name=\"main-content-before-middle-adv\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Just when we thought we\u2019d seen it all from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/lionel-messi\/\">Lionel Messi<\/a> at the 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/\">FIFA World Cup<\/a>, the GOAT outdid himself yet again.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Messi saved Argentina from almost certain elimination in Tuesday\u2019s Round of 16 clash vs. Egypt, spurring a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/2026\/matches\/argvsegy-07-07-2026\/\">3-2 comeback for the ages<\/a> with a late goal and assist to help keep the defending champions\u2019 dream of winning back-to-back World Cup titles alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Up next for La Albiceleste is a quarterfinal showdown with either Colombia or Switzerland on Saturday at Kansas City Stadium (9 pm ET | FOX, Telemundo, Peacock).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To those kids watching him [Messi] and can&#8217;t believe what they&#8217;re seeing, use him as an example,&#8221; head coach Lionel Scaloni told reporters post-match.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8230; It honestly gives me goosebumps.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<div lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>\u00a1\u00a1\u00a1GOLAAAAAZO DE ARGENTINA!!! \u00a1\u00a1\u00a1GOLAAAZO DE LIONEL ANDR\u00c9S MESSI!!! \u00a1\u00a1\u00a1APARECI\u00d3 EL 10!!! <\/p>\n<p>\u00a1TREMENDO GOLAZO! Firma un zurdazo dentro del \u00e1rea para empatar el duelo ante Egipto. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ioUY9KoDkB\">pic.twitter.com\/ioUY9KoDkB<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u2014 Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TelemundoSports\/status\/2074551737952940536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 7, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h3>More history made<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>Messi\u2019s heroic 1g\/1a performance added to an already historic World Cup for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/inter-miami-cf\/\">Inter Miami CF<\/a>\u2019s superstar No. 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The back-to-back Landon Donovan MLS MVP retook the tournament <strong>Golden Boot lead with nine goals<\/strong>, increased his <strong>all-time best career World Cup scoring tally to<\/strong> <strong>21 goals<\/strong>, and extended his record <strong>World Cup goal-scoring streak to nine straight games<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, with his helper on Cristian Romero\u2019s 79th-minute header that ignited Argentina&#8217;s late rally from two goals down, Messi set a <strong>new World Cup record with his ninth career assist<\/strong> at the competition.<\/p>\n<p>Adding to the intrigue of his latest benchmark, Messi surpassed none other than fellow Argentine legend Diego Armando Maradona.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<blockquote><p>\u2014 FOX Sports (@FOXSports) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FOXSports\/status\/2074562807253917954?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 7, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h3>Emotional World Cup<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>But more than individual records, Messi is chasing glory with Argentina.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That was evident after his emotional celebration with teammates after the final whistle at Atlanta Stadium, full of tearful embraces.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For what he is, for what he gives, for this being his last World Cup, because he&#8217;s our guide,&#8221; Lautaro Mart\u00ednez, who assisted in Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez&#8217;s 92nd-minute winner, said of Messi.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We try to follow him and give our best always. And once again, Argentina was well represented.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n                                <iframe data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XO3x8vm0Ijc?feature=oembed\" allowfullscreen title=\"Argentina vs Egypt Highlights \ud83c\udf0e\ud83c\udfc6 2026 FIFA World Cup\u2122 | Round of 16\"><\/iframe>\n                            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-toggle data-layout-name=\"grid_4-4-4\" data-bucket-name=\"main-content-after-middle-adv\">\n<div>\n<p>Get the latest from MLS: league news, must-see matches, kit drops, premium offers for the World\u2019s biggest event, and more!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <\/main><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/news\/lionel-messi-s-world-cup-heroics-pull-argentina-back-from-the-brink\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Randy Volkman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer Just when we thought we\u2019d seen it all from Lionel Messi at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the GOAT outdid himself yet again. Messi saved Argentina from almost certain elimination in Tuesday\u2019s Round of 16 clash vs. Egypt, spurring a 3-2 comeback for the ages with a late goal and assist to help keep [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":918344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22672,93020,2005],"tags":[82301,108989],"class_list":["post-918343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lionel","category-messis","category-soccer","tag-lionel","tag-messis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}