Argentina vs Cape Verde: Result, Stats & Predictions (World Cup 2026)
Argentina edged Cape Verde 3-2 after extra time as Messi scored his record 20th World Cup goal in a nervy Round of 32 win.
3 July 2026
Result
Argentina survived a major scare to beat Cape Verde 3-2 after extra time at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 29th minute, but Deroy Duarte equalised for Cape Verde shortly after the hour. Lisandro Martínez restored Argentina's lead from a corner, only for Sidny Lopes Cabral to curl in a stunning equaliser. The match went to extra time, where a Cristian Romero header deflected off Diney Borges to send Argentina through to face Egypt in the Round of 16.
What it means for Last Man Standing pools
Anyone backing Argentina in the knockout rounds would have been sweating. The defending world champions nearly went out to a side ranked outside the top 100 in the world. For LMS purposes, Argentina remain alive — but this result will make pool players think twice before picking them automatically in the next round. Messi is still there, Egypt will be the opposition, and Argentina should still be favoured to progress. But Cape Verde served a reminder that nothing at a 48-team World Cup is a formality.
Pre-match forecasts
Argentina were enormous pre-match favourites, with implied probability models pricing them at approximately 87% to win the match, the draw at around 11%, and Cape Verde at just 4%. The consensus across forecasters was near-universal. Cape Verde had reached the Round of 32 without winning a single group stage game — three draws saw them through — so the expectation of a comfortable Argentina win was understandable. The result defied those forecasts completely through 90 minutes, with Cape Verde level twice before Argentina's extra-time winner.
Standout stats
Messi's 29th-minute goal was his 20th in World Cup history — extending his own record as the highest scorer in the tournament's history across men's and women's competitions. It was also his seventh goal in the current tournament, making him the first player to score seven or more goals in multiple World Cup editions. He has now scored in eight consecutive World Cup matches, the longest such streak in the tournament's recorded history. Cape Verde's Sidny Lopes Cabral's equaliser was the game's best moment from a neutral standpoint — a curling effort from the edge of the area against the run of play — and underscored how competitive the expanded 48-team format has made the knockout rounds.
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