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.
Argentina complete extraordinary comeback to beat Egypt
'We have suffered an injustice'
"We need to appear in a better way at the World Cup," Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan had said on the eve of the tournament as he addressed his nation's poor World Cup record.
Egypt arrived in North America as World Cup underachievers, having come up short in their previous three appearances on the global stage, failing to win any of their seven matches.
Having secured a first win by overcoming New Zealand in a group game in Vancouver on 22 June, the Pharaohs took the lead against the three-time world champions Argentina when Yasser Ibrahim headed his side into a 15th-minute lead.
In an incident-packed game, Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir produced a magnificent save to keep out Messi's penalty before the Pharaohs thought they had scored another only for it to be disallowed.
Fernandez's late, late winner brought further anger as Egypt screamed for a penalty after a foul on Salah, a member of Egypt's backroom team on the bench was shown a red card and Egypt's head coach was booked.
"We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice," said Hassan afterwards.
"I'm not convinced with this outcome. I'm not convinced with the way things unfolded during this match.
"A penalty was ruled out. A second goal was remarkably disallowed. There has not even been a VAR check when we have all seen the image of the (shirt) being pulled back.
"I am not going to continue following the matches of this World Cup, watching the matches of this World Cup. This is my own way of speaking up."
Egypt forward Zico, added: "The referee was really unfair. The injustice was clear. There's been an unfairness right from the start of the match."
Will Salah play at another World Cup?
While Messi, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe have scored regularly at this tournament, Salah departs with just one goal to show for his efforts.
That came in the win over New Zealand on 22 June.
Against Argentina, Egypt's captain failed to register an attempt or a key pass.
Salah will turn 38 when the 2030 World Cup takes place in Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
While Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, and Croatia's Luka Modric, 40, have played their last games on the World Cup stage, it remains to be seen if Salah will be back with Egypt in four years' time.
Meanwhile, Egypt's exit leaves Morocco as the last of Africa's 10 teams still standing at this tournament.
Morocco made history four years ago by becoming the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup.
The Atlas Lions face France in the quarter-finals at Boston Stadium on Thursday (21:00 BST).
Analysis: The key refereeing decisions
Only last week Pierluigi Collina, Fifa's head of referees, underlined a key criteria given to his officials.
Referees have been told to allow normal football contact to increase the tempo of matches.
This World Cup has seen 22.6 fouls per game, compared with 25 in 2022 and 27 in 2018.
How does that feed into Egypt's disallowed goal?
Attia had a very light tug on the shirt of Martinez and slightly stepped on his toe.
But the VAR stepped in to say Zico's superb goal should be ruled out for a foul.
Of course there is an argument that this can be a foul, but it would be inconsistent with how the tournament has been refereed.
If you are letting these challenges go on the field, then you have to do the same with VAR.
Remember Aleksandar Pavlovic's raised boot to the head of Ecuador's Pedro Vite's face? No VAR intervention for Leroy Sane's goal.
Did the foul happen too far back in the move? The VAR will look at how the attacking phase begins, specifically how possession was won.
As the challenge directly led to the goal it would be reviewable, even though it was 17 seconds back.
What is more unfortunate for the officiating team is the potential foul on Salah in the build-up to Fernandez's dramatic winner.
In the Argentina penalty area, Salah went down claiming he had been tripped by Julian Alvarez. Surely this should be reviewed by VAR too?
It was similar to Attia's challenge - except for one crucial difference.
Salah was in the penalty box, so the VAR is assessing a potential penalty - which has a higher threshold to a foul.
Had Salah been outside the area, for consistency the VAR would have to get involved. As there's not enough for a spot-kick, Argentina's winner stands.
Pride alongside heartbreak
I'd just got off the phone with my nine-year-old nephew.
"Misha, it's a disaster. We've been robbed!" he said in angry tears.
My guess is there are similar conversations happening in homes and family WhatsApp groups wherever Egyptians like my family are watching tonight.
Heartbreak doesn't even begin to cover it.
This match took fans on an emotional rollercoaster - from hope, to belief, to outright elation... before anger and finally anguish.
"As an American of Egyptian descent, I felt every minute of this," Sami Elmansoury, 41, told me.
"Watching Egypt rise from their first ever World Cup win to going toe-to-toe with Argentina is something I'll never forget. Nothing can dim what these players showed the world today. Their performance throughout this tournament will live on."
And I think that's what many Egyptians are feeling tonight.
Pride... alongside heartbreak. They didn't play like underdogs, they played like equals.
This team has done something no Egyptian side has managed before. They have lifted the spirits of a nation and a region.
Their motto throughout this tournament has been 'Mekameleen', which means 'we'll keep going'.
And they did. Tonight, the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and cities across Egypt will be quieter than fans had hoped.
This World Cup may have ended in heartbreak, but it has also left Egyptians believing that this team belongs among football's biggest nations.
