Argentina’s defence of their World Cup crown has relied heavily on resilience and late drama.
Lionel Scaloni’s side won all three group matches against Algeria, Austria and Jordan to comfortably reach the knockout rounds.
However, the real tests arrived once the elimination matches began.
Argentina first survived a dramatic extra-time battle against Cape Verde in the Round of 32 before producing an even bigger escape against Egypt in the last 16.
The South Americans trailed 2-0 with only 15 minutes remaining in Atlanta.
Yet they somehow completed an extraordinary comeback and secured a 3-2 victory before extra time became necessary.
Enzo Fernandez scored the decisive goal in the 92nd minute to extend Argentina’s unbeaten World Cup run to 11 matches.
Once again, Lionel Messi stood at the centre of everything.
The 39-year-old recovered from a first-half penalty miss against Egypt by producing a goal and an assist during the comeback.
Lionel Messi now leads the Golden Boot race with eight goals at the tournament.
He has also extended his World Cup scoring record to 21 goals and moved clear of Diego Maradona with nine assists in the competition.
Meanwhile, Djokovic had his own dramatic night at Wimbledon.
The Serbian survived a five-hour and 15-minute marathon against Felix Auger-Aliassime to reach the semi-finals.
Djokovic defeated the Canadian 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, and 7-6 in the longest Wimbledon quarter-final in history.
The match finished at 10:53 p.m. and came dangerously close to the tournament curfew.
After the match, reporters compared Djokovic’s longevity with Messi’s remarkable performances for Argentina at the age of 39.
According to The Sun, Djokovic responded with a cheeky remark aimed at the Argentine captain. Djokovic said:
“It would be nice to play 90 minutes like him!”
The Serbian will now face world number one Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semi-finals as he continues his pursuit of a record 25th Grand Slam title.
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