Álvarez strikes in extra time to send Argentina past Cabo Verde

Julián Álvarez’s 111th-minute shot, which FIFA recorded as an own goal by Diney Borges, restored Argentina’s lead and broke Cabo Verde’s resistance in a 3-2 extra-time win at Miami Stadium. The defending champions had already been dragged through a second-half scare, and the decisive touch came after 110 exhausting minutes that left every gap in Cabo Verde’s back line exposed.

Argentina had twice looked in control and twice been pulled back. Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 29th minute, a goal that also gave him his 20th in World Cup play and extended his scoring streak to eight consecutive tournaments. Cabo Verde answered through Deroy Duarte in the 59th minute, then found a second equalizer and a brief lead when Sidny Lopes Cabral struck in the 103rd. Before that, Lisandro Martínez had put Argentina back ahead in the 92nd minute, only for the match to keep tilting again as Cabo Verde kept forcing the issue.

Álvarez’s intervention mattered because it arrived when Argentina needed a clean finish more than another exchange of chances. After Cabo Verde had weathered long stretches of pressure and then seized momentum in extra time, Álvarez found the angle to fire across goal toward the far post. The move did more than put Argentina in front again. It punctured the belief of a side that had already spent an hour and a half proving it could live with the champions, then a little more proving it could hurt them.

FIFA said the match took every second of the 120 minutes played in Miami, and the result sent Argentina into the round of 16, where Egypt would be next. Argentina had arrived in the knockout stage after topping Group J with three straight wins, but the path through Cabo Verde showed how thin the margin can be even for a team built to defend a title. Messi was named Player of the Match, while Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was left with a tense reminder that the next round would demand more than control and reputation.

Cabo Verde’s exit still carried the weight of a landmark campaign. In its World Cup debut, the team stayed competitive until the end and left behind a result that reflected both its resilience and the pressure Argentina had to absorb before Álvarez’s shot finally tipped the tie.