Argentina survives Cape Verde scare with 3-2 extra-time World Cup win

Argentina needed a 111th-minute own goal from Diney Borges to escape Cape Verde 3-2 in extra time in Miami Gardens, Florida, and keep its World Cup defense alive. Lionel Messi scored for Argentina, and the match ended with the reigning champions breathing again after a night that tilted from control to alarm.

Cape Verde had already turned the game into a shock by reaching the knockout stage for the first time in its World Cup history, after advancing from a group phase built on three draws. The African side pushed Argentina hard enough to force a match that became a test of nerve as much as skill, and a review of a Cape Verde counterattack kept the score at 0-1 after a foul in its own half, adding another layer to the debate over VAR and how one decision can alter momentum for both sides.

Messi’s strike in the 29th minute gave Argentina an early lift and moved him to 20 World Cup goals, extending the tournament record he already owned. He also scored in an eighth consecutive World Cup match, another record, and at that point he had seven goals in the tournament, one more than Kylian Mbappé. For Argentina, that meant a superstar cushion in a match that still refused to settle.

The margin did not hold. Cape Verde kept coming, and Argentina was dragged into extra time before Borges turned the match with the own goal that sealed the result. FIFA’s match data showed Argentina with 22 attempts at goal and 59 percent possession, compared with 16 attempts and 34 percent possession for Cape Verde, a split that captured how often the holders had the ball without ever fully putting the game away.

Argentina now moves on to face Egypt in Atlanta in the round of 16. Cape Verde leaves with its deepest World Cup run ended by one of the tournament’s most dramatic finishes, a defeat that will linger because a single review, a single touch, and a single own goal changed the line between a famous upset and another escape for Lionel Messi’s team.