Leandro Paredes has immortalised the tackle many Argentines believe saved their 2026 World Cup campaign – by hanging a painting of the moment he stopped Egypt’s Omar Marmoush in his own home.
The Argentina midfielder’s last-ditch challenge in stoppage time of their last‐16 tie against Egypt, with the score at 2-2, has been turned into a large artwork displayed in his house, underlining how pivotal the incident is seen in the story of the holders’ run to the final.
The painting was revealed in photos posted on social media by Paredes’s wife, Camila Galante, as the 2022 world champion returned home to Argentina after the tournament. In one of the images, Paredes is seen standing beside the artwork, which captures the split-second intervention in front of Marmoush.
Although Argentina went on to lose the final 1-0 to Spain and finish as runners-up, many observers argue their route to the showpiece very nearly ended far earlier – in that fraught knockout meeting with Egypt.
The moment that changed Argentina’s World Cup
Deep into added time of the last‐16 clash, with the match finely poised at 2-2, Egypt broke away on a rapid counter-attack. Marmoush surged forward before attempting to slide a through ball to Mahmoud Hassan “Trezeguet”, who was racing clear and appeared on course for a one-on-one with goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Paredes, however, anticipated the pass at the very last moment, stretching out a leg to intercept. Within seconds the danger turned into a counter-attack for Argentina, culminating in a decisive winner scored by Enzo Fernandez that sent the defending champions into the quarter-finals.
The fine margins of that sequence – from Egypt being on the verge of a possible winning goal to Argentina snatching victory at the other end – have since been widely dissected by analysts and media.
‘One of the World Cup’s most iconic defensive images’
The Athletic described Paredes’s challenge as one of the most iconic defensive images of the entire World Cup, arguing its significance rivalled that of the goals scored in the game, even though it was “only” a single defensive intervention.
The outlet noted that Paredes suddenly found himself as Argentina’s last outfield player facing three Egyptian forwards on a lightning counter-attack, after several team-mates had pushed forward in search of a late winner once the holders had drawn level.
According to The Athletic’s analysis, the midfielder read the movements of Marmoush and Trezeguet early, retreating in carefully measured steps while tracking the three attackers. He then anticipated Marmoush’s attempted through ball, changed direction at precisely the right instant and stretched to cut it out in a manner the publication labelled “genius”.
The report concluded that the episode completely altered the trajectory of the match: it denied Egypt a clear run on goal in a move that might have sent them into the quarter-finals, and instead triggered the Argentine break that ended with Fernandez’s winner. In its view, Paredes’s intervention was the true dividing line between Argentina’s early elimination and their eventual journey to the final.
Controversy after the final
Paredes also dominated headlines after the World Cup final defeat by Spain, when he refused to apologise for clashes that followed the final whistle.
In his first public message on Instagram after the loss, he stressed his pride in what Argentina had produced throughout the tournament.
Despite reports that he had been shown a red card for his part in the post-match confrontations, world governing body Fifa removed the dismissal from his official record. At the same time, Fifa confirmed it had opened an investigation into the incidents that unfolded at the end of the final.
For Paredes, though, the image that now hangs on his wall is not of that controversy in New Jersey but of a tackle in the last 16 – a reminder of the night a single defensive touch helped keep Argentina’s World Cup dream alive.
