Argentina meet Egypt in Atlanta on Tuesday (17:00 BST) for a place in the 2026 World Cup quarter-finals, in a last-16 tie framed around two of football's greatest players and national icons: Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah. Both are nearing the end of their careers — Messi is 39 and has hinted this will be his last World Cup, while Salah, 34, still hopes to feature in 2030 — lending the encounter a sense of occasion beyond the result.

Their World Cup stories differ sharply. Messi is a world champion, the tournament's all-time top scorer and appearance-maker, and joint top scorer this summer with seven goals; in Argentina, talk of a "bicampeonato" (back-to-back title) mixes with anxiety over his looming retirement and renewed criticism that the side has become "Messi-dependent". Salah, by contrast, has reached the knockout stages for the first time, with Egypt in the last 16 for the first time after a penalty shootout win over Australia sealed by his Panenka. To Egyptian supporters, Salah — who rose from the village of Nagrig to global stardom — is a humble symbol of national pride, hope and inspiration.