Salah bids goodbye to the World Cup, with Messi fittingly drawing the curtain

Salah bids goodbye to the World Cup, with Messi fittingly drawing the curtain centers on a dramatic Round of 16 meeting between Egypt and Argentina, where Lionel Messi’s late influence helped decide the outcome. With 11 minutes remaining and Argentina trailing 2-0, Messi responded by setting up Cristian Romero, who scored to pull one back. Four minutes later, Messi leveled with a volley off the crossbar, taking him clear at the top of the Golden Boot race. In stoppage time, substitute Lautaro Martínez teed up Enzo Fernández for a header that completed a turnaround. For Egypt, Mohamed Salah’s outing became another difficult chapter, as he faced the absence of the single defining World Cup triumph. The article also revisits Salah’s early development at El Mokawloon, his time in Europe, and the “Egyptian Messi” comparisons that ultimately faded as their careers diverged.