With 12 minutes of normal time remaining Egypt stood on the cusp of their greatest ever World Cup result.
The Pharaohs led Argentina, the reigning world champions, 2-0 in Atlanta Stadium.
A quarter-final spot – their first – beckoned for the football-mad African country.
Then it went wrong. Horribly wrong.
When Cristian Romero reduced the deficit in the 79th minute, it was a case of Egypt digging in. But they looked panic-stricken when captain Lionel Messi – who else? – made it 2-2 four minutes later.
Enzo Fernandez then completed a remarkable turnaround with a header in the second minute of stoppage-time.
Egypt were down and out – and downright furious after the video assistant referee (VAR) ruled out a second goal by Mostafa Zico for a foul after midfielder Marwan Attia was penalised for slightly stepping on Lisandro Martinez at the start of the move, when they were leading 1-0.
They were also adamant Mohamed Salah was fouled in Argentina’s penalty area, seconds before the reigning champions broke for the winner.
“There is so much inconsistency at the moment with VAR and decisions and how far you go back to pull a decision,” Egyptian football expert Ahmad Yousef told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“There was such a long distance that had gone by and the foul was so minimal so I completely understand why the Egyptian coaching staff and squad are so disappointed.”
When French referee Francois Letexier signalled full-time, many of Egypt’s players slumped to the floor in disbelief at what had just happened.
Salah swapped shirts with his former Liverpool team-mate Alexis MacAllister before walking off the pitch with his head bowed, while other players stood shaking their heads.
“There were so many subplots and stories to this game,” said former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who was in the ground working for BBC Radio 5 Live.
This match had everything – a penalty save, a disallowed goal, a red card as well as a thrilling comeback.
BBC Sport unpicks a game that will go down in World Cup history for featuring a team who were two goals down so late on, but who went on to win without needing extra time.
