The Argentine men’s national football team beat Cape Verde 3-2 in a hard-fought, heart-stopping game. The team coached by Lionel Scaloni took the lead thrice, but had to go into extra time to secure it’s ticket to the round of 16.

In a first half where it controlled most of the game, Argentine captain Lionel Messi gave the Albiceleste a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute. 

With the African team defending deep in its own half of the pitch, Lisandro Martínez floated a pass over the defense for Messi to run onto, and the Argentine star put it in the back of the net after controlling inside the box.

It was Messi’s seventh goal in the tournament, as he extends his lead as World Cup all-time goalscorer record holder to 20.

Things remained similar in the second half, but in the 59th minute Cape Verde midfielder Deroy Duarte tied the game in a move against the run of play. 

Winger Ryan Mendes put a low cross for Duarte, who put a point-blank shot past Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez to tie the game. It’s only the second goal Argentina has conceded in the World Cup

Neither could break the deadlock after that, so the match went into extra time following a 1-1 tie in regulation.

Just two minutes into extra time, Lisandro Martínez scored the 2-1 for Argentina. The defender received the ball inside the box after a corner by Lionel Messi and slammed it into the back of the net. It is Martínez’s first goal for the national team.

It lasted just 10 minutes, as Cape Verde defender Sidny Cabral scored one of the best goals of the 2026 World Cup to tie the game 2-2.

The 23-year-old defender received the ball wide open on the left, dribbled past Argentina’s Alexis Mac Allister and curved the ball into the top left, leaving Emiliano Dibu Martínez with no chance.

 In the 111th minute of the extra-time second half, defender Cristian Cuti Romero headed the ball in from a Lionel Messi corner, and the ball went into the back of the net after it deflected off Cape Verdean defender Diney Borges.

Argentina will face Egypt next on Tuesday, July 13, at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, with kick-off at 1 p.m. Argentina time.

‘This is Argentina’

“It was an incredibly tough game,” said Scaloni, who took charge of his 100th game as Argentina coach. “We have to take the positives; this team never gives up.”

The Argentina boss congratulated the Cape Verde team who “showed they’re a great team” and highlighted the team’s effort, saying every one of his players “ended the game exhausted because they gave it all.”

“This is Argentina. Some people might never understand it, but it’s always difficult. Argentines know that,” he said.

Scaloni is now just 24 behind the all-time record holder, Guillermo Stabile, who coached the Albiceleste between 1940 and 1960 and won six Copa Americas.

For his part, captain Lionel Messi analyzed why the match proved so difficult for the defending champions.

“We struggled to pressure them,” said the Rosario player. “There were a lot of gaps between the defenders and the midfielders, and we had a hard time coordinating. That made it so they always had an extra man.”

Messi highlighted the importance of set pieces in a tournament like the World Cup, saying Argentina has “people who are great heading the ball” and that Argentina was “able to take advantage of that today, and it will be important to continue to do it.”

“This team competes, and will always do so,” said Messi.

Cover image: Selección Argentina Twitter