At some point in Lionel Messi's career, the football world stopped being surprised when he scored goals. But when he put Argentina ahead in their round of 32 clash with Cape Verde on Thursday, he did something no player in the history of the tournament had ever done before — he extended his own all-time World Cup scoring record to 20 goals across five different tournaments. And he was not even the most talked-about player on the pitch for long.
A Match That Nearly Ended Argentina's Title Defence
The defending champions went into the game as heavy favourites. Messi finished clinically to give Argentina the lead, and there seemed little doubt about the outcome. Then Cape Verde, a nation of half a million people, decided they had not come simply to make up the numbers. Deroy Duarte equalised to send the game into extra time, and Argentina began to look genuinely rattled. Cape Verde threw themselves into every challenge, their fans louder than logic suggested they had any right to be.
Sidny Lopes Cabral Produces a Goal for the Ages
Lisandro MartÃnez thought he had won it for Argentina when he headed in from a corner to restore the lead in extra time. But Sidny Lopes Cabral collected the ball on the edge of the area and curled it into the top corner with the outside of his foot — one of the goals of the tournament. Cape Verde were level again. It took a deflected Cristian Romero header in the 111th minute, from yet another Messi corner, to finally separate the sides. Argentina 3-2 Cape Verde after extra time. The holders survived, but only just.
Messi's Record and What Comes Next
The record books will note that Messi scored his 20th World Cup goal overall — a number so far beyond any other player in history that it barely registers as a competition. At 38 years old, this could plausibly be his final run at defending the trophy he waited a lifetime to win. Argentina face Egypt in the round of 16, with Mohamed Salah waiting on the other side after his own penalty-shootout heroics. The bracket has delivered one of the most compelling last-16 ties in memory.
Cape Verde Leave With Their Heads High
For Cape Verde, there is nothing to regret. They pushed the world champions to the brink of an extraordinary upset and produced, in Lopes Cabral's curling strike, one of the finest individual goals of the 2026 tournament. They arrived as relative unknowns. They leave as a story the whole world will remember for years.
Match facts: Argentina 3-2 Cape Verde (AET) — Round of 32, 2026 FIFA World Cup. Goals: Messi, MartÃnez, Romero (111') for Argentina; Duarte, Lopes Cabral for Cape Verde.
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