Argentina made World Cup history with their win against Cape Verde!
Argentina had a tough but exciting win against Cape Verde in the round of 32, beating them 3-2 after extra time and setting a new World Cup record. The current champions started strong with Lionel Messi scoring in the first half, matching a 64-year-old record. Messi also made history by becoming the first player to score seven goals in two different World Cups, having done it in 2022 as well.
Deroy Duarte surprised everyone by scoring for Cape Verde just before the hour mark to level the game at 1-1. Cape Verde kept fighting hard and pushed the match into extra time. Early in extra time, Lisandro Martinez gave Argentina the lead again, but Cape Verde’s Sidny Cabral quickly equalized in the 103rd minute. The winning goal came in the 111th minute when Diney Borges accidentally scored an own goal from a Messi corner.
With this win, Argentina moved on to the round of 16 and set a World Cup record for being involved in the most extra-time games—12 in total—surpassing Germany and Italy. This victory is also Argentina’s eighth straight win against African teams since they lost to Cameroon back in 1990.
Next, Argentina will take on Egypt, who advanced by beating Australia on penalties. Although Cape Verde is out of the tournament, they have every reason to be proud after finishing the group stage undefeated with draws against strong teams like Spain, Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia.