Messi’s Argentina avoid biggest World Cup shock as Cape Verde score stunning goal but go out

Lionel Messi and Argentina avoided one of the biggest ever World Cup knockout shocks by overcoming Cape Verde 3-2 in extra time of a jaw-dropping game.

Cape Verde, a collection of 10 islands off the west coast of Africa, which has a population of around 525,000 are the smallest nation to ever make the knockout stage of the World Cup. Ranked No 67 in the world, they surprised Spain in their opener, holding on for a 0-0 and then drew with Uruguay and Saudi Arabia to reach the last 32.

And Argentina, winners of the previous World Cup, appeared set to coast into the last 16 after Messi became the first player ever to score 20 World Cup goals with his seventh of this tournament on 29 minutes.

Lionel Scaloni’s side continued to dominate possession and chances but were stunned when Deroy Duarte beat Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez. The goal was assisted by Cape Verde’s captain Ryan Mendes, who started the game a week after it was reported he is under investigation by police in New Zealand over an alleged rape.

Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who had earned praise for his tournament performances denied Messi in a one-on-one to keep it at 1-1 and then scrambled across his goal to palm the ball away after the Argentina captain tried to catch him out as he set up his wall at a free kick.

Argentina were then denied a penalty when the ball struck the arm of Cape Verde’s Pico Lopes as the ball had hit his head first. Vozinha then reacted well to save a deflected Messi free kick to send the game into extra time.

Extra time followed a similar pattern with Argentina taking the lead again through Lisandro Martinez only for Cape Verde to respond with a truly extraordinary strike from Sidny Lopes Cabral, the left back whipping the ball with his right foot into the top corner before leaving the field and climbing into the stands to celebrate amid pandemonium at the Hard Rock Stadium.

In another incredible finale to a World Cup 2026 match, Cristian Romero met Messi’s corner with his header deflecting off Diney Borges for an own goal on 111 minutes to win it as Argentina held out under late Cape Verde pressure.

Argentina will now face Egypt in Atlanta on July 7 in the round of 16.

Here The Athletic’s James Horncastle, Thom Harris and Dan Sheldon break down the key talking points.

Does Cape Verde scare diminish Argentina’s prospects?

An island of 525k against 46m. The three-time world champions and current holders against World Cup debutantes. The greatest player of all-time against an out-of-contract goalkeeper from the Portuguese second division. Cape Verde couldn’t, could they? It was Argentina. It was Messi. It was Miami, a second home to him, a stadium 90 per cent full of Argentines too.

And yet Cape Verde, remarkably, gave them a genuine and creditable scare. The most improbable upset in World Cup history seemed on and it, understandably, raises questions about Argentina.

They relaxed into a potential humiliation. They dared it to happen. In the end only an own-goal was the difference in this 3-2 win. And even after it came, Argentina needed Dibu Martinez to make his best save so far this tournament. They needed the offside flag to go up and for Dailon Livramento to miss from point-blank range. It made you wonder: what would France do to this Argentina side? How would they cope?

James Horncastle

Was this the best goal of the World Cup so far?

This has been a World Cup of great goals. Pupils have dilated. Jaws have dropped. However, I don’t recall one producing the same intake of breath as Sidny Cabral’s in extra-time.

Cape Verde looked done. They got to extra-time but when Lisandro Martinez put Argentina in front again, nobody saw another Cape Verde goal coming. Not Dibu Martinez. Not Alexis MacAllister who tried to close Cabral down on the right-side of the Argentina penalty area. Cabral skipped past one World Cup winner.

Everyone at the Hard Rock expected a cross. Cabral instead had the audacity to go for goal. His shot arced through the indigo sky. It looked like going over. But it dipped and settled in the far corner. The Cape Verde bench spilled onto the pitch. Cabral jumped into the stands, as if electrified by what he’d done.

The Argentine players stood shell-shocked. They turned to each other. Blank stares on their faces. For the first time, they looked truly scared. The fear was real. Cabral had inflicted a wound on the world champions. One they didn’t know whether they’d be able to recover from.

James Horncastle

How did Cabral celebrate his goal?

After an amazing moment, Cabral didn’t seem to know what to do with himself after conjuring up a piece of Cape Verdean history. First his hands went on his head, eyes bulging in disbelief as he sprinted towards the bench. He fought off his teammates, understandably mobbing him on the touchline, before climbing over the advertising hoardings and into the crowd.

It led to a surreal 30 seconds. Cabral was searching through the crowd while the commentators continued to lose their minds and players literally jumped for joy on the pitch. Eventually, a woman emerged and the pair embraced while the referee stood on the half-way line tapping his wrist.

Never has there been a period of extra time like it. Cabral’s goal will live forever in World Cup legend.

Thom Harris

How did Duarte score the first?

The last chapter in the Cape Verde fairytale was supposed to end against Argentina. And while it did, the ending was happy nonetheless. Bubista, their head coach, said it the night before his team played the World Cup holders in Miami Gardens. “The so-called small teams have shown they can compete on the same playing level with the so-called superior teams.”

Cape Verde frustrated Spain. They helped send Uruguay into crisis and kept a clean sheet against Saudi Arabia. Three draws for posterity. Undefeated after almost a month at the World Cup.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni did not take Cape Verde lightly either. As expected he brought Lionel Messi, rested against Jordan, back into the starting XI. “They’re very good,” he said. “They counter attack and have skilled players.” Still, few people expected Cape Verde to stay in the game long with Messi in such prolific form. And when Messi gave Argentina the lead, the round of 32 tie seemed prematurely over.

Until, that is, Deroy Duarte decided to write another page in the Cabo Verde fairytale. There were tears in the stands. Tongues joyously wagged. The Cabo Verde contingent behind Dibu Martinez’s goal danced and banged their drums as Duarte got in behind Lisandro Martinez and sent a shot past Dibu. No one expected Cape Verde to take the defending champions to extra-time in another heroic effort.

Citizens of Cape Verde keep saying this is the most euphoric time in the archipelago’s history since gaining independence in 1975. Seeing the emotions after the goals by Duarte and Lopes Cabral shows why.

James Horncastle

How did Vozinha take the game to extra-time?

In truth, Cape Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper didn’t have much to do in the first half, testament to the intensity and organisation of his team’s 4-5-1 defensive shape. His best moments early on came with the ball at his feet, typically nerveless as he chopped inside to avoid pressure from Lautaro Martinez — twice — before taking down a high ball and juggling for his adoring fans.

He even thought about the Cruyff turn for a third time as the hour mark approached, but thought better and cleared for a throw-in when he sensed Lionel Messi breathing down his neck.

It is the kind of flair and personality that has made this Cape Verde side so absorbing to watch, happy to take risks and confident to knock the ball around defence and entice the Argentina press. Vozinha typifies that bravery from the back.

Of course, an incredible shot-stopping performance is how Vozinha made his name, and in 90 minutes this evening he matched the seven saves he made against Spain. He had little chance for Messi’s opener, who finished expertly into the roof of the net, but no-one will be able to take away the four saves he made against football’s greatest goalscorer tonight.

The first was relatively straightforward from a free-kick, but he denied Messi from a one-on-one with a sprawling save in the second half, before spotting his intentions with a quick free-kick and springing across goal. His third free-kick save from Messi was the most heart-thumping, adjusting to punch away a deflected effort deep into stoppage time. He also got down well to turn a low Enzo Fernandez shot round the post, another solid stop to add to another eye-catching day’s work.

Thom Harris

Can Messi break the World Cup goals record?

Lisandro Martinez, stood a few yards inside Cape Verde’s half, looked up and saw Messi making a run.

From that moment, there was only one place the defender’s pass was going to be delivered to. So, as it came over the top of Messi’s shoulder and he controlled it beautifully with his left foot, there was a sense of inevitability about what would happen next.

With Messi’s next touch of the ball, it was struck past Vozinha and into the back of the net. More significantly, however, was that it further extended his lead over Kylian Mbappe as the World Cup’s greatest-ever goalscorer, now on 20 goals, and took him one past the French striker’s six for the tournament.

The 39-year-old is once again leading from the front, having scored seven times in the World Cup, and is even closing down Just Fontaine’s all-time record of 13 goals in a single tournament.

Fontaine, a former French international, set this record at the 1958 World Cup and managed it in only six matches.

If they reach the final, Messi will have four more games to chase down Fontaine’s long-standing tally. It seems unattainable, but can you write off arguably the greatest player to ever kick a football?

Dan Sheldon

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