Argentina finds a way in extra time to beat Cabo Verde 3-2, with three of the goals being scored after 90 minutes.
With arguably the easiest route to the quarterfinals, Argentina realizes they cannot take things for granted. Although the Argentines never trailed, you could see that this was not what they thought it would take to make it to the Round of 16
Messi scored first in the 29th minute after receiving a chipped pass over the backline. In two touches, he controlled the ball and passed it up and to the right of the goalkeeper. A classic play but a great finish.
Cabo Verde tied the game for the first time in the 59th minute. After a pass on the wing nutmegged the defender, Deroy Duarte turned and shot. The ball went through the legs of the second defender, just over the outstretched leg of goalie Emiliano Martínez and into the left side netting.
The match remained even after, with Argentina controlling the match but Cabo Verde’s defense made sure that extra time was needed.
Argentina took an early lead when Lisandro Martínez scored just two minutes after the match restarted. At first glance, it seemed as if Martínez got away with an unmarked shot. After the replay was shown, it appears that the one defender who would have been in the position to attempt to block the shot, was brought to the ground by an Argentine.
Of course the Argentine then had to step over the player thus making his stay on the ground even longer. However it was determined that this was not enough to argue that there was any interference with Cabo Verde’s ability to defend and the goal was given.
This time it only took Cabo Verde 11 minutes to respond with Sidny Lopes Cabral scoring a goalazo. He faked a cross and was able to avoid Alexis Mac Allister’s attempt at taking him down. Cabral then regained his balance just in time to get a curling shot off that got up and over the closest defender and went into the upper right corner of the goal.
Unfortunately for Cabo Verde, they would concede an own goal, giving Argentina the win in the 111th minute. Messi took the corner, Cristian Romero headed the ball, but it bounced off the arm of Cabo Verde’s central defender Diney, which took the ball into the goal.
Argentina advances to the Round of 16 where they will face Egypt on July 7 at 12 p.m. ET.
Argentina will need to improve their form if they wish to make a deep run as this was thought to be their easiest opponent left.
As always, stay tuned to Futbolhijo.com for in-depth coverage of the biggest World Cup yet. Check back for my next article, where I will be covering matches and news that occur throughout the tournament. You can also read my previous article where I recapped the USA’s advancement.
Cover Photo: Argentina Advances. NOTE: Image generated using the prompt “genterate me an image that shows Argentina advancing to the Round of 16 in the 2026 world cup,” by OpenAI, ChatGPT, 2026 (https://chatgpt.com/).
One comment