Both Argentina and Egypt needed 120 draining minutes to survive their opening knockout ties and had barely four days to recover before meeting for a place in the World Cup quarterfinals.

For Argentina, that short turnaround has come with a little more anxiety after Lionel Scaloni’s side, so smooth through the group stage, came within minutes of a seismic upset before edging Cabo Verde 3-2 after extra-time. Egypt, meanwhile, is here after beating Australia 4-2 (1-1 after extra-time) on penalties.

Scaloni did not hide his frustration with the scheduling after the win in Miami. “Now to rest. I don’t know how the World Cup is made but we had six days, and now we have three and a half. When you need the rest the most, you have the least.”

The holders looked vulnerable for the first time against Cabo Verde, unable to control the game as they had in the group stage and was repeatedly exposed in transition, even though Lionel Messi still found time to score his 20th World Cup goal.

The Latin American team’s discomfort with physicality will encourage Hossam Hassan’s Egypt, which has been built on defensive discipline and quick breaks through Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush.

“We aren’t focusing on Messi,” assistant coach Ibrahim Hassan said. “They might have Messi, but we have Mohamed Salah, and we have 26 Messis of our own.”

The tactical contrast is clear. Argentina will try to reassert midfield control and might bring in Leandro Paredes to bolster the inner channels and support Enzo Fernandez and Alexis Mac Allister.

Egypt will sit in a compact block and wait for moments to release Salah and Marmoush into the spaces, following the blueprint Cabo Verde found. Ahmed El Fotouh, Karim Hafez and Mohamed Abdelmonem are racing against time to recover from knocks, while Argentina might bring back Nicolas Tagliafico to the left side of the defence ahead of Facundo Medina.

Scaloni is expected to keep faith with the same core, but after 120 exhausting minutes, Atlanta may reveal whether Friday was merely a stumble or the first real crack in the champions’ defence.

Match starts at 9.30 p.m. IST