Argentina secured a place in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup with great difficulty, after winning three goals to two, after reaching extra time, in the match held at the "Hard Rock" stadium in the city of Miami.

With this difficult win, the Argentina national team is on a date with Egypt, next Tuesday, while each country is equal that it reached the round of 32 in extra time, which means equal effort

In the 29th minute, Lionel Messi received a brilliant ball from his teammate Lisandro Martinez who did not hesitate to shake the net for Cape Verde to reach the seventh goal of the current edition of the 2026 World Cup.

Messi leads Argentina to victory

The first half ended with Argentina taking the lead, but Cape Verde refused to give up in front of the glow of the tango school, to level the score in the 59th minute, through a wonderful shot from Derui Duarte taking advantage of a pass from his teammate Ryan Mendes.

Cape Verde was keen to close the spaces against Argentina until the original time ended in a positive draw with a goal for the same, and the extra two halves became a test of the fitness of each team.

With the start of the extra half, Lisandro Martinez scored the goal for Argentina after a cross from a corner that the Cape Verde defence failed to deflect and reached the Tango star to shoot calmly past goalkeeper Fawzina.

In the 103rd minute, Sidney Cabral fired a curling shot into the Argentina net to climb into the stands to the surprise of the crowd at the way he expressed his joy at the goal

Messi shines for Argentina against Cape Verde

The decisive goal and victory came in favor of Argentina in the 111th minute, as Messi played a corner that reached the head of defender Cristian Romero to shoot it into the goal, announcing the progress of the tango again.

Cape Verde rallied to try to get back into the game in the few minutes of extra time, but the valor of Argentina's defence and veteran goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez denied the Sharks from completing their adventures in front of the tango and Canadian referee Drew Fischer blew the final whistle

Messi's numbers with Argentina

Argentina's aging captain Messi put in a lot of effort throughout the 120 minutes on the pitch, taking his tally to 20 goals in World Cup history, a record never reached by any player.

Messi was equal to France's Kylian Mbappe with 6 goals in the current edition of the World Cup, but after scoring a goal, he was the only one in the lead with seven goals.

Messi became the first player in World Cup history to score in 8 consecutive matches in the tournament, while he contributed to 12 goals in the knockout rounds of the World Cup (6 goals and 6 assists), a record not achieved by any player since 1966, and also became the first player in the history of the World Cup to score against 14 different teams.