Messi nearly got eliminated after scoring his 'unprecedented 20th World Cup goal'! Argentina survives a grueling extra-time battle against Cape Verde, winning 3-2 in a nail-biting victory to advance to the Round of 16.

*This content was translated by AI.

'Defending champion' Argentina barely defeated Cape Verde to reach the Round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. Lionel Messi (39) made history by reaching the unprecedented milestone of 20 career World Cup goals.

On the 4th (Korea time), Argentina defeated Cape Verde 3-2 after a tight match that went into extra time at the Miami Stadium in the Round of 32.

Having won all three group stage matches against Algeria, Austria, and Jordan (9 points), Argentina secured a hard-fought victory in their first knockout round match, continuing their journey toward back-to-back World Cup titles.

The undisputed hero of the victory was Messi. He recorded one goal and one assist, leading the attack. In the 29th minute of the first half, Messi received a pass from Lisandro Martinez and calmly scored with a left-footed shot to take the lead. This was his seventh goal of the tournament and his 20th career World Cup goal, a historic first.

However, Cape Verde's counterattack was fierce. In the 14th minute of the second half, Deyverson Duarte equalized, leveling the score.

Argentina brought on Julian Alvarez to seek another goal, but in the 18th and 28th minutes of the second half, Messi's decisive shots were repeatedly saved by Cape Verde goalkeeper Bojia, sending the match into extra time.

Extra time unfolded as a chaotic battle. In the 2nd minute of the first half of extra time, Martinez scored from a corner kick to restore Argentina's lead. He was instrumental with one goal and one assist on the day. However, in the 13th minute of the first half of extra time, Sydney Lopes Cabral of Cape Verde scored with a sharp mid-range shot to tie the game at 2-2.

It was once again Messi's foot that put an end to the intense contest. In the 6th minute of the second half of extra time, Christian Romero headed in Messi's left-footed corner kick to score the winning goal. Cape Verde launched a full-scale attack in the remaining time but could not overturn the result.

Cape Verde, a small nation with a population of 520,000, achieved a historic run by reaching the Round of 32 for the first time in its history after drawing all three group stage matches, but it could not overcome Argentina and was eliminated from the tournament.

Having secured the Round of 16 ticket with difficulty, Argentina will face Egypt at the Atlanta Stadium on the 8th at 1 a.m. to compete for a spot in the quarterfinals.

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*This content was translated by AI.