Argentina advanced after a 3-2 extra-time win over Cape Verde, but Lionel Messi made clear that qualification did not hide the team’s problems. He said Argentina must recover, keep the positives and fix several issues from a tense knockout match.
Messi scored first and added to his men’s World Cup record, reaching 20 goals, but Cape Verde twice fought back, including an extra-time equalizer from Sidny Lopes Cabral. Argentina finally went ahead for good when Diney Borges turned in an own goal after a Cristian Romero header.
The match also underlined Cape Verde’s historic run. The nation, listed with a population of about 525,000, became the smallest country to reach the knockout stage of this World Cup and pushed Argentina deep into extra time.
For Argentina, the result extends a team-record winning streak to 11 matches, while Messi now leads this World Cup’s Golden Boot race with seven goals. Lionel Scaloni said he would review the weak points with the squad, and the next test is Egypt in the round of 16 in Atlanta.
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