08

If you didn’t catch the whole match between Argentina and Egypt live at 12AM 8 July 2026, fret not. Consider yourself saved from lots of heartache, stress, and hair-pulling moments. Many Malaysians who understandably side with Argentina as fans, would have expected to see a fairly straightforward game, or maybe even a breeze, considering the star player Messi would surely and easily trash the other team.

But of course, like with lots of matches and the pattern so far, there had to be unnecessary drama and misses from the one we’re all eyeing, taking many of his Malaysian fans through an unfruitful first half. There seems to be a pattern from Argentina though. They tend to play lightly during the earlier part of the match and would up their game in the later part. Is this part of their strategy? If yes, it’s proven painful for fans who live in different timezones.  At this point, it’d be useful to highlight the Group J match against Austria, where Messi scored a goal in the 95th out of the 96th minute, which equal to 2:59AM in Malaysia.

For this, Egypt deserves all the praise and credit they can get, for mainly showing the former champions (the last time was in 2022) that hey, winning and success doesn’t always come so easily. The defenders and the goalkeeper had sharp eyes and were working hard to deny Argentina any goal, which resulted in such a first-half.

For up to the 78th minute or so, Egypt was enjoying the lead… and was all ready to celebrate… until the first goal from Argentina went through and was a valid header. And, in a matter of minutes, Argentina equalised, leaving Egyptians stunned and in disbelief.

At this point, anyone watching would start to feel uneasy because it was akin to watching a horror movie. The more you watched, the more you also felt like you should have just gone to sleep instead. Those of us watching from Southeast Asia have only a few matches where they work for our body’s circadian rhythm, by the way.

By the end, even though Argentina triumphed, most of us knew that this win felt different. It’s more because Argentina had to save themselves from embarrassment, they knew they had to offer some form of relief to not only the fans on home ground, but the fans all over the world. I just wonder how long the winning team will celebrate and tango.

Remember that Argentina was on the brink of death, they came from behind to shock commentators, fans, and the media. And with such a narrow scoreline, it should serve as a wake-up call to both teams, no matter your greatness level. In all that you do, ultimately, humility always wins, at the end of the day, even if you have to lose something precious to you.

Would you be watching the next Argentina meet in the quarter-final? How many of you are still deciding whether to do so?