Messi Scores Record 20th World Cup Goal but Argentina Barely Escape Cape Verde 3-2 in Extra Time Thriller

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Lionel Messi scored his record-extending 20th World Cup goal, but Argentina needed 120 minutes and two nerve-wracking comebacks from Cape Verde to escape with a 3-2 victory Friday at Hard Rock Stadium in what is already being described as one of the most dramatic and improbable matches in the history of the tournament.

Argentina, the world's top-ranked team and defending champion, were pushed to the absolute limit by Cape Verde, ranked 67th in the world and a nation of just over 500,000 people making its first-ever World Cup appearance. The defending champions survived what would have been statistically the biggest upset in World Cup knockout history, eventually advancing on Cristian Romero's header in the 111th minute that deflected off Cape Verde defender Diney Borges to end a match that left a stunned stadium in South Florida asking whether they had just witnessed something extraordinary.

The answer, unambiguously, is yes.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was measured but respectful in his assessment of what his team faced.

"I have to give credit to our opponents," Scaloni said after the final whistle.

Messi opened the scoring in the 29th minute with a moment of characteristic genius, controlling a Lisandro Martínez pass into the box with the outside of his left boot before swiftly flicking the ball past Vozinha, Cape Verde's 40-year-old goalkeeper, in one unbroken motion that seemed to defy both physics and the reality that the player executing it was 39 years old and playing in his sixth World Cup. The goal was his seventh of this tournament and the 20th of his World Cup career, extending the all-time men's World Cup scoring record he now holds alone.

Messi became the first World Cup player to score in eight consecutive appearances, and has scored 12 times in his past eight World Cup matches.

Cape Verde refused to fold. In the 59th minute, midfielder Deroy Duarte received a pass from Ryan Mendes, turned inside the penalty area and fired past Emiliano Martínez at the far post in what was his first-ever international goal, silencing the pro-Argentina crowd and sending thousands of Cape Verde supporters into delirium. The equalizer reflected a shift in the match's character: Argentina's early control had gradually given way to a more physical, more urgent game that the Blue Sharks were winning.

Vozinha, the goalkeeper who had already become an unlikely star of the group stage for his performances against Spain and Uruguay, extended his legend in the second half. He denied Messi's right-footed finish, made a sharp stop on a deflected free kick and repeatedly commanded his penalty area with the authority of a player competing well above the level his domestic standing in Portugal's second division would suggest. He finished the match with eight saves, each one keeping alive the possibility of the single greatest upset in modern football history.

Extra time opened with Argentina pushing hard for what they hoped would be a decisive advantage. It arrived quickly, in the 92nd minute, when Martínez arrived at the near post from a Messi corner and rifled a left-footed shot past Vozinha to restore the lead. The stadium exhaled. The match appeared settled.

Then came the goal that stopped the world.

In the 103rd minute, Cape Verde midfielder Sidny Lopes Cabral received the ball on the left edge of the penalty area, cut inside onto his right foot and curled an extraordinary shot into the far corner, beating Emiliano Martínez from an angle that seemed to offer him almost no chance. The stadium fell silent. The Argentine players stood momentarily frozen. Cabral sprinted toward his teammates in a celebration that will be replayed for years as a monument to the human capacity for belief in the face of impossible odds.

Argentina were seconds away from a penalty shootout and potentially the greatest embarrassment in the reigning champions' modern history. Instead, with a penalty shootout looming, a Messi corner swung into the area in the 111th minute found Romero at the near post. His header struck Borges and deflected into the net, the cruelest ending imaginable for the Cape Verde defender who had been one of the reasons the match had gone this far.

Even then, the match was not fully settled. Emiliano Martínez needed to make two smart saves in the final minutes to keep Cape Verde from a third equalizer.

The defeat ends Cape Verde's inaugural World Cup campaign but does nothing to diminish what the island nation achieved across four matches at the tournament's largest stage. They drew 0-0 with Spain, the reigning European champions. They drew 2-2 with Uruguay. They drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia. And in their final match, they took the world's No. 1-ranked defending champions to 120 minutes before a deflected goal ended their Cinderella story. They were the only remaining debutant nations in the competition to advance from the group stage, and they departed having captured the imagination of billions.

Argentina, still shaken, move on to face Egypt in Atlanta on Tuesday, July 7, in the round of 16. Whether the defending champions can rebuild their rhythm after being so thoroughly tested by a team ranked 67 places below them will be one of the tournament's most closely watched storylines over the next few days.

Messi, meanwhile, has seven goals in this tournament, one more than France's Kylian Mbappé in the Golden Boot race, and 20 career World Cup goals across six tournaments, a record that now seems likely to stand for a very long time.