Matchday 27 at the World Cup produced photographs so dramatic they belong in a gallery, or at the very least plastered across your phone wallpaper for the next month. Let us stroll through the highlights, shall we? Yasser Ibrahim wrote his name into Egyptian folklore by scoring the nation's first World Cup knockout goal since 1934 - that is ninety-two years of waiting, for those counting - against Argentina. You can imagine the scenes back in Cairo.
Then there was Lionel Messi doing what Lionel Messi does, which in this instance was watching his shot cannon off the underside of the crossbar and bounce over the line to draw Argentina level at 2-2. The ball barely crossed the line before the stadium erupted, and somewhere a physicist was probably having a field day calculating the exact trajectory. Enzo Fernandez then popped up with a late winner against Egypt that happened to be the 3,000th goal in World Cup history. Three thousand. That is a milestone so neat you almost wonder if football planned it that way.
The post-match celebrations were something else entirely. Messi was hoisted onto his teammates' shoulders like a conquering hero returning from battle, which, given the circumstances of that comeback, is actually not far from the truth. Over in Vancouver, the scenery at BC Place was absolutely stunning - a proper feast for the eyes before Switzerland and Colombia even kicked off. A Colombia supporter was captured in a moment of intense concentration, staring at the pitch with the kind of focus usually reserved for people trying to assemble flat-pack furniture without the instructions. Jhon Lucumi nearly grabbed a spectacular goal from a corner, rattling the bar and giving everyone a collective heart attack. And finally, Gregor Kobel was pictured celebrating after his shootout heroics propelled Switzerland into the quarter-finals, looking like a man who had just been told he never has to pay taxes again. All in all, a Matchday worth preserving in the photo albums.
