Lionel Messi and Argentina beat Cape Verde 3-2 on Friday and advanced to the World Cup Round of 16 in a thrilling match in which the tiny island nation challenged the reigning champion until the final minutes of extra time.

The go-ahead score for Argentina was credited as an own-goal after Cristian Romero's header deflected off Cape Verde's Diney Borges in the 111th minute.

 Messi scored early in regulation, his record-extending 20th career World Cup goal. Lisandro Martinez scored in the 103rd to put Argentina ahead 2-1.

Sidny Lopes Cabral and Deroy Duarte scored for Cape Verde — both equalizers that stunned the pro-Argentina crowd in South Florida.

Argentina advanced to face Egypt, which beat Australia in a penalty shootout earlier Friday, in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Cape Verde’s memorable World Cup debut had been a stunning run that few outside the tiny island nation off the western coast of Africa could have predicted. Behind the stellar play of 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, Cape Verde became the smallest country to reach the knockout round, securing surprising draws against Spain and Uruguay and another against Saudi Arabia.

Vozinha had 10 saves against Argentina, including five against Messi.

Messi added another brilliant goal to his resume, sneaking behind the Cape Verde defense on a well-timed run as Martinez lofted a pass toward him, taking a quick touch and hammering a finish into the roof of the net past goalkeeper Vozinha for a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute.

The Argentina captain has seven goals in this tournament — one more France’s Kylian Mbappé in the Golden Boot race as the top scorer in this year’s World Cup — and extended his World cup record, moving two goals ahead of Mbappé on the all-time list. He has 12 goals during his record eight-match scoring streak.

Source: AP

-Agencies