For an hour in Atlanta, the defending champions were being outthought by a team nobody gave a chance here. Egypt had reached the last sixteen for the first time since 1934, they had survived a shootout against Australia to get here and they arrived as heavy underdogs against a side unbeaten in the tournament. Two goals up through Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Ziko, with Messi already having missed a first-half penalty, they were closing in on what would have been one of the great World Cup upsets.

They did not get there, and the last twelve minutes are why. Romero, Messi and finally Enzo Fernández in stoppage time turned it around for a 3–2 win that sends Argentina into the quarter-finals. But losing the game and losing the tactical argument are two different things, and Egypt only lost the first. The way they set up to frustrate Argentina is the most instructive thing that happened all night, and it was built around one idea in particular. This is how the story of an incredible match unfolded…

Argentina (4-4-2): E. Martínez; Molina, Romero, L. Martínez, Tagliafico; De Paul, Paredes, Enzo Fernández, Mac Allister; Álvarez, Messi.
Egypt (4-4-2) Shobeir; Hany, Ibrahim, Rabia, Hafez; Lasheen, Ateya; Ashour, Hassan, Salah, Ziko.

The whole of Egypt's first-half plan can be understood through one deliberate choice, which was to play with no midfield at all in their build-up. From goal kicks they set up in what looked like a 4-2-4, with four players along the top line matching Argentina's back four, the full-backs pushed high and wide to stretch the pitch and the double pivot dropping deep around the edge of their own box. What was immediately noticeable was that the centre of the pitch was left empty, with no number eights sitting in the space where you would normally expect a team to try to build through. This decision may have been down to the threat that Argentina’s midfield poses in midfield when pressing, often really aggressive and front-footed. But this structure from Egypt nullified that immediately. Many would see the empty midfield as something for the in-possession team to solve, but it’s in fact the opposite and you can see why they implemented this tactic.

When the ball went out to a full-back, one of Egypt's two central players would drop down from the top line and because Argentina had set up without anyone to press in that middle zone, one of their deep midfielders would be drawn in to follow him. The moment that happened, Argentina had pulled a man out of position and left the space Egypt had just vacated even more open. This opened progression opportunities for Egypt to punish it, playing into an attacker's feet and bouncing the ball back into one of the dropping pivots to escape the pressure. It was a way of using an empty space to create an even bigger one and it worked repeatedly.

Off the ball, Egypt were just as brave. Their front two pressed in a way designed to block the direct pass into Argentina's holding midfielder, knowing that if he could turn and face forward it became very hard for the man behind to step up and stop Argentina breaking the first line. So they funnelled Argentina into wide areas instead and once the ball went wide they pressed it aggressively, often in four against four or five against five situations that they had loaded up on purpose, forcing Argentina backwards and keeping the current champions strangely subdued.

What lifted this from a good gameplan to a very well-coached one was that Egypt had a second answer ready for when Argentina refused to take the bait. If Argentina's front line chose not to press and instead dropped off, closing the gap between their own midfield and attack, then Egypt's centre-back was suddenly left with space to step forward and carry the ball. That became a trigger of its own. Whenever the centre-back drove forward, Egypt's winger would come inside and narrow, dragging his full-back with him and that opened the room for a switch out to the free Egyptian full-back on the opposite side.

So Argentina were caught between two problems that pointed in opposite directions. Press and Egypt baited a midfielder out and played through the space behind him. Sit off and the centre-back carried the ball forward before Egypt switched the play into the space out wide. Having two prepared solutions to the same build-up, rather than one, is what allowed a side with far less possession to feel in control of the opening hour, and it was rewarded with the lead.

The second half showed why Argentina are the world champions, because the adjustment was immediate and correct. Rather than continuing to force the ball wide, where Egypt were at their most dangerous once they worked it back inside, Argentina set their traps to send the ball centrally instead. The full-backs were now marked tightly at closer distances and the striker curved his run specifically to cut off the pass out to the Egyptian full-back, closing the wide route that had caused so much trouble.

Egypt's response was intelligent in its own right and was almost immediate, highlighting again great adaptability and intelligence. They pulled one of the four from their top line down into midfield, shifting into something closer to a 4-3-3, which gave them more bodies and more cover through the middle now that Argentina were funnelling them there. The unintended cost, though, was that it handed Argentina's deep midfielder the very thing he had lacked in the first half, which was a man to step onto. With someone now occupying midfield, Argentina could finally trigger their central press cleanly and that increasingly forced Egypt's defenders to carry the ball into dangerous areas to try to draw Argentina in and play out.

Two goals up, Egypt made a deliberate decision to stop being brave. Their aggressive first-half approach in wide areas gave way to a retreat into a back six, the strikers now delaying Argentina's build-up while the midfield dropped in to protect the defence. That naturally let Argentina progress up the pitch far more easily than before, but it also took away the ball over the top that Argentina most wanted to play, and it was a trade Egypt were happy to make while protecting their lead.

Argentina met it by stepping up the intensity, going man for man across the pitch with much closer distances, making it very hard for Egypt to play out and forcing them long, trusting their own defenders to win the second balls. The pressure eventually told, with two excellent finishes hauling Argentina level, and then came the moment the game turned on completely.

Egypt had numbers back and a strong rest defensive shape late on, exactly as they should have, but on one transition the decision-making and execution failed them. A defender left his wide man in acres of space to press inside, expecting Messi to receive the first pass and Argentina simply missed Messi out and went direct into the space that had been vacated. The covering defender's body position showed that he too had expected the ball to go the other way and once it was worked wide, the legs and work rate of Enzo Fernández gave Argentina the single chance they needed to win it. You just cannot underestimate the quality of Argentina in the moments when it really matters.

Argentina found a way, as the best sides tend to and their second-half adjustments were sharp enough that they probably deserved to take something from the game. But the lasting lesson from this one belongs to Egypt, because for an hour a heavy underdog controlled the world champions by being braver and better organised, built around the idea of leaving midfield deliberately empty to manipulate where Argentina pressed. That they lost it says less about the plan than about the finish and specifically about one transition late on where the reading of the moment let them down. It highlights that you cannot switch off against the best teams, even when you look like you have a comfortable enough lead. They will not need to watch the tape to know that the goals they conceded came from their own decisions rather than from anything Argentina forced and that is the hardest kind of defeat to take.

Argentina go on to face Switzerland in the quarter-finals.

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The Tactics Academy Newsletter | Issue #009 | Coach, Analyst, Founder