Argentina defeats Cape Verde 3-2 in overtime to advance to the 2026 World Cup round of 16

 Lionel Messi wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. His colleagues from Argentina did the same. An exciting and unforgettable World Cup match against the sensational Cape Verde Islands came to an end - and the defending champions survived, even though they were brought to the brink of defeat. Cape Verde equalized in regular time and again in extra time, but could not respond to Argentina's third goal, which advanced to the round of 16 with a 3-2 victory on Friday. Even despite the defeat, the performance of Cape Verde - a small island nation off the coast of West Africa - will be remembered as one of the most extraordinary stories of this World Cup. "I have to pay tribute to our opponents," said Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni. "The truth is that when people say there are no easy opponents, today they (Cape Verde) proved they are a great team." Argentina's decisive goal was chalked up as an own goal after Cristian Romero's header deflected off Cape Verde's Diney Borges in the 111th minute. Messi scored early in the match to set a record by scoring his 20th World Cup goal. Lisandro Martínez scored in the 92nd minute to give Argentina a 2-1 lead. Sidny Lopes Cabral and Deroy Duarte scored the equalizer for Cape Verde, surprising the pro-Argentine crowd in South Florida. Cabral's goal - a curling right-footed shot that went past goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez in the 103rd minute - made an already wild match even more extraordinary, leveling it at 2-2 and raising the possibility of Messi facing outstanding Cape Verdean goalkeeper Vozinha in a penalty shootout. Argentina took the lead again eight minutes later, held it until the end and advanced to play Egypt - which had earlier beaten Australia in a penalty shootout - in Atlanta on Tuesday. "As this team has shown many times, and as I have said many times, we compete," Messi said in Spanish. "And we competed until the end." Cape Verde's memorable debut World Cup campaign was a stunning journey that few outside the country of 525,000 people could have predicted. Thanks to the excellent play of 40-year-old Vozinha, Cape Verde became the smallest country to reach the knockout stages, securing surprising draws against former champions Spain and Uruguay and another against Saudi Arabia. Vozinha had 10 saves against Argentina, including five against Messi. "We agreed on what our country represents. We drew twice with the world champions and took it to extra time," said Cape Verdean coach Bubista. "First of all, we are proud of our players who were worthy at the World Championships. We showed our identity." Messi added another brilliant goal to his tally, slipping behind the Cape Verdean defense to Martínez's well-placed pass, taking a quick touch and hitting the ball into the ceiling of the net for a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute. The Argentina captain has seven goals in the tournament - one more than Frenchman Kylian Mbappé in the race for the Golden Boot as top scorer at this year's World Cup - and extended his World Cup record, surpassingMbappé two goals on the all-time goals list. He has 12 goals during his record eight-game scoring streak. Messi had the first chance to score when his shot went wide of the right post in the 15th minute. After a foul on him, he had a 25-yard free kick three minutes later, which was easily grabbed by Vozinha, who saved his team every time they needed it. "We were so close, we pushed them until the very end," said Cape Verdean defender Pico Lopes. "But in the end it wasn't it. Disappointed... but I think we showed great character today, great quality to come back twice. They are world champions for a reason." Bubista and the players remained on the pitch long after the final whistle. Some sat with their heads down on their chests. Others shared tearful hugs before waving to a small group of their supporters as reality began to set in at the end of a ride that almost no one outside their intrepid island could have predicted. "We showed that we can be a small country," Bubista said, "but we can play against some of the best teams in the world." _Associated Press report._ --- ## Related Articles 1. [How to Watch Egypt vs. Iran: TV Channel, Live Stream, Time](https://pitchpulsemedia.com/en/news/how-to-watch-egypt-vs-iran-tv-channel-live-stream-time) 2. [FIFA's U-turn on England v Mexico World Cup Kick-off Time](https://pitchpulsemedia.com/en/news/fifas-u-turn-on-england-v-mexico-world-cup-kick-off-time)