Argentina scrape through against Cape Verde to reach knockout stage

Argentina faced a big scare before ending Cape Verde’s dream run. Lionel Messi scored his 20th World Cup goal in a 3-2 win after extra time to move to the last 16.

Messi showed great skill and finished well for his seventh goal in this tournament. This put the defending champions in front, but the Blue Sharks kept fighting back.

Deroy Duarte scored on the hour mark, making Argentina work harder than they wanted to in the hot Miami weather.

Lisandro Martinez briefly gave Argentina the lead early in extra time. But Sidny Lopes Cabral hit a stunning shot into the top corner, bringing the game back to level.

Argentina finally took control when Cristian Romero headed in Messi’s corner. The ball deflected off Diney Borges for an own goal, sealing the win.

La Albiceleste will meet Egypt on Tuesday in Atlanta. But there were worries for Lionel Scaloni on his 100th match in charge, even with a seemingly easy draw ahead.

Scaloni said it “would have been madness” to lose to the underdogs.

“A very tough match; you always have to take the positives, this team (Argentina) never gives up,” he said.

“We have to congratulate the opponent. When people say there are no easy opponents, they proved today that they are a great team,” he added.

“We finished very tired… they gave it their all.”

Cape Verde had shown their strength by holding European champions Spain, Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia to draws in Group H. This was their first World Cup appearance and they made it to the knockout stages.

Blue Sharks coach Bubista called the match against the world champions “the game of our lives.” His players gave a spirited performance, making Argentina sweat.

In Miami, Messi was cheered like a superstar by the nearly 65,000 crowd, mostly wearing Argentina shirts.

Messi created magic with a soft touch from Lisandro Martinez’s pass, scoring a high finish past Vozinha to open the game.

With this goal, Messi also set a record by scoring in eight straight World Cup games. He opened a two-goal lead over France’s Kylian Mbappe in the race for the tournament’s top scorer.

Emi Martinez watched the first half but had to make a smart save from Duarte as Cape Verde came back stronger in the second half.

Martinez had no chance when Duarte equalized. Ryan Mendes found Duarte, who fired a low shot into the far corner.

Cape Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha became famous after his man-of-the-match performance against Spain last month. With nearly 18 million Instagram followers, he delighted fans by winning a one-on-one battle with Messi when it looked like Argentina would regain the lead.

Next, Irish-born Pico Lopes became a Cape Verdean hero, stopping Enzo Fernández from scoring after Messi set up a chance.

Two minutes into extra time, Lisandro Martinez had a shot that seemed to swing momentum back to Argentina. But Cape Verde fought back and equalized again with a stunning goal from Lopes Cabral.

The full-back celebrated by running to the stands with his partner.

As the game continued, the lively atmosphere turned tense as the match neared penalties. Scaloni wiped his brow with relief when Messi’s corner led to an own goal by Borges.

Still, exhausted Argentina had to hold on against a final attack from Cape Verde. Emi Martinez won the battle again, tipping over another great shot aimed for the top corner.