Argentina survived one of the biggest scares FIFA World Cup beat Cape Verde 3-2 after extra time on Friday to book a place in the round of 16, s Lionel Messi praising the underdogs after pushing the defending champions all the way.Tottenham defender Cristian Romero sealed the win in the 111th minute when Messi’s header deflected off Cape Verde defender Diney Borges before heading into the net.Messi opened the scoring with his 20th World Cup goal, extending his tournament record. Lisandro MartÃnez then put Argentina back in front in stoppage time after Cape Verde equalised. The African side struck again in extra time before Romero’s effort settled the game.The result sent Argentina into the round of 16 for a sixth straight World Cup, but only after Cape Verde came close to producing one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history.Messi said his team must fight to the end to go through.“As this team has shown many times and as I have said many times, it competes,” Messi said in Spanish. – And we competed until the end.Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni also praised Cape Verde for the challenge they posed.I have to give credit to our opponents, said Scaloni. “It is true that when people say that there is no easy opponent, today (Cabo Verde) proved that they are a great team.”Messi said Argentina knew before the match that Cape Verde would not be easy to beat, pointing to their results earlier in the championship.“We knew it would be a very difficult game; this team didn’t lose to Spain and Uruguay for a reason. We did the hardest part, which was to find the first goal,” Messi said. “We thought from then on we would start to find our game and be more relaxed, but it was the complete opposite. We lost the ball, we sat, we couldn’t press them well, and they hit with their power. We knew it would be difficult; this is a knockout tournament and nobody gives you anything for free.“Cape Verde’s appearance at the 2026 World Cup has ended after a campaign that went down in history. With a population of around 525,000, this island nation became the smallest country to reach the knockout stage of the tournament.Led by 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinho, Cabo Verde have already surprised many by drawing with former champions Spain and Uruguay, as well as Saudi Arabia, before taking Argentina to extra time in the round of 16.
