Zlatan Ibrahimovic has warned Lionel Messi's Argentina teammates that they cannot rely solely on the 39-year-old star, despite his extraordinary performance in the 3-2 comeback win over Egypt in the World Cup last 32. Ibrahimovic called Messi an 'animal' after he flipped a switch to turn the game around.
Argentina fell 2-0 behind in Atlanta before Cristian Romero headed in from a Messi cross on 78 minutes. Messi then equalised with a sharp finish on 83 minutes, and Enzo Fernandez scored the winner in stoppage time, leaving Messi in tears at the final whistle.
Ibrahimovic's warning
'You can see that something changed. He flipped a switch (after 2-0). He became an animal and nobody could stop him,' Ibrahimovic said on Fox Sports. 'You can see how much it means to him. He may have won everything, however many Ballon d'Or awards there are, but he still wants more.'
He added: 'To be a little critical, his teammates need to step up more and help. He's on another level. If Messi continues like this until the end, nobody will be surprised. But he needs help.'
Messi's World Cup dominance
Messi heads into the quarter-finals as the leading scorer at the World Cup with eight goals, ahead of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland on seven. His strike against Egypt took his international tally to 125 goals in 204 caps. He has now scored 21 goals in World Cups, extending his lead over Mbappe, who has 19. Miroslav Klose held the all-time record of 16 before being surpassed by both, with Harry Kane also closing in on 14.
Thierry Henry's praise
Thierry Henry, also on Fox Sports coverage, said of Messi: 'If you write that script, it's the kind of film you think could never be real. The kind where you think the director went too far. But Messi writes like that, this guy writes history with his feet.'
Messi's reaction
Messi said after the match: 'It got tough at 0-2 and it was very exciting to be able to turn it around. It's not easy to come back from 0-2 down, but this group never gives up and tries until the end. What this group did today in this qualifying round is insane.'
Argentina will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Saturday in Kansas City, after Switzerland edged past Colombia on penalties following a goalless draw. The winner will meet either England or Norway in the semi-finals.
