Messi v Salah: A World Cup meeting of two national icons

Messi v Salah: A World Cup meeting of two national iconsImage caption, Mohamed Salah and Lionel Messi could both be playing in their last World CupByMatías ZibellBBC News MundoPublished2 minutes agoCommentsByAndy CryerBBC Sport senior journalistLionel Messi v Mohamed Salah. Footballing legends. National icons.Argentina face Egypt in Atlanta on Tuesday (17:00 BST) for a place in the 2026 World Cup quarter-final. It is also a meeting of two of the game's greatest players.Messi, 39, and Salah, 34, are both in the autumn of their careers. Messi has already suggested this will be his last World Cup, although Salah is still hoping to play in 2030.Their World Cup story is very different.Messi is a World Cup winner. He is the tournament's all-time top scorer, appearance maker and is joint top scorer this summer.For Salah, it has been a different narrative. In his third World Cup for Egypt, this is his first time in the knockout rounds, with his country in the last 16 for the first time.Egypt lost Africa Cup of Nations finals in 2017 and 2021 during his career, while Salah was involved in several public disagreements with the Egyptian Football Association over issues including image rights, travel arrangements and the team's management.His Panenka penalty helped his country make history though with a shootout victory over Australia in the last 32, and he will be hoping Tuesday will mark his biggest World Cup moment.'The closer to seeing a loved one leave, the more we miss them'The most frequently mentioned word in Argentina right now is 'bicampeonato' (back-to-back World Cup championship).But the question everybody is thinking, and nobody wants to mention, is 'what will we do when Messi retires'?Every new match the national team plays in the World Cup - such as the one against Egypt on Tuesday - is another step towards glory, a chance to achieve a feat only two other countries have managed (Italy in 1934 and 1938; Brazil in 1958 a...