Messi's Argentina Faces Egypt in World Cup Last-16 Showdown

Lionel Messi’s Argentina will today [Tuesday] face The Pharaohs at 7pm EST for a place in the world cup quarter finals as the two teams looks to claim the lead in the Goden Boot race.

The Defending champions will be keen to secure their place in the quarter finals when they host Mohamed Salah’s Egypt who qualified after eliminating Australia in the round of 32 through a penalty shoutout.

Messi’s side suffered a huge scare from little known Cape Varde who contained the game until after full time, with Argentina securing a winning goal in the last minutes of extra time.

The duo will hope to resume normal service against Egypt who have never gone beyond the round of 16 on Football biggest stage’

Speaking hours before the game starts, Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni said that they are ready just like they were before Cape Varde match, and at the same time acknowledging Egypt as a good team.

‘’We are on the alert just like we were before the match against Cape Verde. It’s a very good team; they have important players and a coach that has been working with them for a while now. They play good football and always make it difficult for their rivals’’. He said.

He added, ‘’Salah is a great player, it will be a pleasure face him. Our team knows how to face these great players and we always work hard for it’’.

Scaloni has however confirmed that Messi is fit to start despite playing both full and extra time against stubborn Cape Varde in their previous encounter.

The race for the Golden Boot is currently tight with three players having scored seven goals each. Messi, Kylian Mbape and Norway’s Erling Haaland have each netted seven goals as they eye the award.

Egypt coach Hossam Hassan while commenting on his team preparedness said he has been mentoring his players for the match regardless of the color of the opponent’s shirt, what name they have and their current ranking.

The winner of today’s Round of 16 match between Argentina and Egypt will meet either Switzerland or Colombia in the World Cup quarter-finals.