On Friday, Argentina fought to maintain its pursuit of consecutive World Cup titles. Their challenge was to defeat one of the unexpected favorites of this year’s tournament, Cape Verde. The island nation, ranking 64th globally, faced the formidable Argentina, currently at No. 2, second only to France.
Cape Verde held Argentina scoreless for nearly 30 minutes until Lionel Messi broke through in the 29th minute. This goal marked Messi’s 20th in World Cup history and the first time a player has scored seven or more goals in multiple World Cups. It was also his eighth consecutive World Cup match with a goal.
Lionel Messi scored his 20th World Cup goal in consecutive tournaments.
Despite Argentina’s lead, Cape Verde equalized early in the second half thanks to a surprising goal by Deroy Duarte. Argentina applied late pressure, including a dangerous free kick from Messi, which Cape Verde successfully defended.
The game proceeded to extra time. Initially, Argentina reclaimed the advantage with Lisandro Martinez’s goal in the 92nd minute. Yet, Cape Verde tenaciously responded with Sidny Lopes Cabral scoring to level the match in the 103rd minute. Remarkably, Argentina had only conceded two goals across their previous ten World Cup victories. Cape Verde matched this number in one encounter.
In the 111th minute, an Argentina corner kick led by Messi resulted in a goal. Cristian Romero directed the ball towards the net, although it was deemed an own goal after deflecting off a Cape Verde defender’s arm. This proved to be decisive.
Cristian Romero’s effort secured the win.
Argentina narrowly avoided the tournament’s most significant upset. As Cape Verde’s valiant journey concluded, Argentina must prepare for a challenging Round of 16 match against Egypt, scheduled for Tuesday in Atlanta.
Matthew Reigle is a writer for OutKick.
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