Argentina survives one of the biggest panics in history fifa world cup Beat Cape Verde 3-2 after extra time on Friday to advance to the last 16 Lionel Messi Praising the underdog after pushing the defending champion all the way.Tottenham Hotspur defender Christian Romero scored the winner in the 111th minute when Messi’s header from a corner kick beat Cape Verde defender Dini Borges and into the net.Messi scored his 20th goal in the World Cup, breaking his World Cup record. Lisandro Martinez put Argentina back in front in stoppage time after Cape Verde equalized. In overtime, the African team scored again, with Romero’s shot sealing the victory.The result allowed Argentina to reach the last 16 of the World Cup for the sixth time in a row, but Cape Verde came close to causing one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.Messi said his team must fight until the end to advance.“As this team has proven many times, as I have said many times, it is competitive,” Messi said in Spanish. “We competed to the end.”Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni also praised the challenge posed by Cape Verde.“I have to give credit to our opponents,” Scaloni said. “The truth is, when people say there are no easy opponents, today (Cape Verde) proved they are a great team.”Messi said Argentina knew before the game that Cape Verde would not be easily beaten, pointing to their performance earlier in the game.“We knew it was going to be a very difficult game; this team has no reason to lose to Spain and Uruguay. We did the most difficult part, which was to find the first goal,” Messi said. “We thought from that point on we would start to find our way of playing and become more relaxed, but it was the complete opposite. We conceded goals, we held back, we couldn’t pressure them well and they hit the ball to their advantage. We knew it was going to be difficult; it’s a knockout game and no one is going to give you anything for free.“Cape Verde ends its 2026 World Cup journey after a history-making campaign. The island nation, with a population of about 525,000, became the smallest country to reach the knockout stages of the World Cup.Led by 40-year-old goalkeeper Wozniha, Cape Verde has already surprised many, drawing with former champions Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia before taking Argentina into overtime in the round of 32.
