How much longer can Argentina afford to leave things late?

The problem at this World Cup, specifically during their two knockout games so far, is that La Albiceleste have left it incredibly late and relied on a bit of desperate magic to see them through to the quarter-finals.

• Read next | Tactical analysis: How Argentina's structural shift unlocked the spaces Egypt had protected for 79 minutes

On Tuesday, Argentina looked like they were destined for an exit at the hands of Egypt, who had jumped out to a 2-0 victory by the second-half hydration break and had often cut through the Argentine defence with ease. It took that seemingly insurmountable lead for the reigning World Cup champions to finally wake up, led once again by the brilliance of Lionel Messi as the superstar registered an assist and a goal in a four-minute span to completely flip the match on its head.

Enzo Fernandez then got the winning goal in stoppage time, thanks to an inch-perfect cross from Lautaro Martinez.

The scenes were similar last Friday, when the Argentines took on new World Cup darlings Cabo Verde in the round of 32. The Island side had already made a big impression with a tournament-opening scoreless draw against Spain, and another pair of draws to see them advance out of the group stage in historic fashion.

Cabo Verde's play in the first three matches should have been enough to make Argentina consider them a genuine threat, but Lionel Scaloni's men appeared to be content with taking a casual approach instead. Messi's early goal in that match probably inflated Argentina's overconfidence further, only for for Cabo Verde to trade goals with them and push the game into extra time, in which the back and forth continued until a late own-goal sealed the 3-2 result for the South Americans.

Argentina got through to Tuesday's last-16 showdown with Egypt by the skin of their teeth, yet even being taken to the brink by Cabo Verde wasn't enough of a wake-up call as the Egyptians enjoyed at-times unfettered passage into the Argentine final third. Ultimately, the African side couldn't score enough goals to stop a thrilling remontada by Argentina, and the end result is Messi and Co. back into the final eight as expected.

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However, one has to wonder just how much longer Argentina's lackadaisical approach can be effective. Like a high school kid waiting until the last minute to finish a project he's known about for weeks, the Argentines seem more motivated by delivering an exciting comeback rather than taking control of matches early and sparing themselves from drama and potential heartbreak.

Their next opponent, the winner of Switzerland vs Colombia, will likely present a stronger challenge than the likes of Cabo Verde and Egypt, and if Argentina continue to sleep-walk through the opening 60-70 minutes of matches the tears of joy on Messi's face at the end of Tuesday's thriller could become tears of heartbreak.

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