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On Friday, Argentina looked to continue their quest for World Cup titles, and to do so, they had to get through one of the darlings of the year, Cape Verde.
The small island nation off the coast of West Africa came into the game as the No. 64-ranked team in the world and managed to hold Argentina – currently the No. 2 team behind France – scoreless for nearly thirty minutes.
But in the 29th minute, Lionel Messi scored to give Argentina the lead.
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It was the 20th World Cup goal of his career and also made him the first player to score seven or more goals in multiple World Cups, having done so in Qatar.
It was also Messi’s eighth consecutive World Cup game with a goal.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi scored in his eight-straight World Cup match and scored the 20th World Cup goal of his career. (Photo by Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty Images))
Well, typically when Argentina take the lead they don’t cough it up, but early in the second half, Cape Verde’s Deroy Duarte pulled off a stunner to level the game at 1-1.
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While there was some late pressure from Argentina, it included an ever-dangerous Messi free-kick from just outside the box that Cape Verde managed to stop.
And thus it was extended playing time.
Cape Verde celebrate after scoring one of their two goals in the tie against Argentina. (Photo by Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
However, it only took a few moments for Cape Verde to settle back into fighting from the back.
Lisandro Martinez found the back of the net in the 92nd minute to give Argentina the lead.
It looked like that would be all she wrote… but Cape Verde had other plans.
They stuck with the defending World Cup champions and in the 103rd minute, Sidny Lopes Cabral scored an incredible goal to tie the game again.
Coming into this game, Argentina had only given up two goals in their ten game World Cup winning streak.
Cape Verde did it in one game.
Argentina’s Cristian Romero gets the head of what turned out to be the winning goal. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Photos)
But in the 111th minute, Messi took an Argentine corner and placed it in the perfect spot for Cristian Romero to head it to the back post and into the net.
This was eventually upgraded to an own goal as it went off the Cape Verde defender’s arm, but it counts the same on the scoreboard.
Despite a late flurry of chances, Argentina held on to avoid what would have potentially been the biggest upset in World Cup history.
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What a match and what a run Cape Verde had in the tournament.
Argentina must now rebuild and prepare for a tough round of 16 match against Egypt, which takes place on Tuesday in Atlanta.
