Argentina survives tiny Cape Verde’s spirited challenge and advances to the Round of 16
By Kyle Feldscher, CNN
(CNN) — Argentina is beathing a sigh of relief after surviving the most remarkable challenge from tiny Cape Verde in the first knockout round of the 2026 World Cup, escaping with a late goal to win 3-2 and advance to the Round of 16.
It was a matchup between the world champions and a tiny African island nation that has fewer people than Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The gap between the two nations, in terms of soccer history and raw talent, could not have been more stark.
And yet, not only did Cape Verde take Argentina to extra time, but they came within inches of forcing Lionel Messi and his compatriots into the coin toss that is a penalty kick shootout.
The most dramatic 120 minutes of this World Cup began was expected: With Argentina on the front foot.
Cape Verde was under siege almost immediately as the Argentinians held nearly all the possession through the first 15 minutes of the match. It might have been enough time for the Blue Sharks to start dreaming of holding another top team to a clean sheet – but this one has Lionel Messi.
The Argentine legend unlocked the Cape Verde defense in the 29th minute, controlling a long diagonal pass with one touch in the box and promptly flicking it over the head of a charging Vozinha. The ball hit the roof of the net and it was 1-0 Argentina, sending the heavily partisan crowd in Miami Gardens into a frenzy.
The breakthrough extended Messi’s record with his 20th World Cup goal, his seventh goal of the 2026 tournament and continued his record streak of consecutive World Cup games with a goal, now at eight.
While that goal burst the bubble of optimism for Cape Verde, it did not lead to an onslaught of Argentinian goals. La Albiceleste created more chances but could not get past the viral sensation in net or the stout Cape Verdean defense before the halftime whistle blew.
As the second half began, Cape Verde continued to hold off the Argentinians and managed a couple of opportunities on the opposition’s goal, though nothing that overly troubled Emiliano Martínez.
And then a thunderclap struck in Miami as the Blue Sharks bit in the 59th minute.
Ryan Mendes passed a ball through an Argentine defender’s legs on the right side of the Argentinian box to Deroy Duarte, who calmly took a touch and then slammed a shot through another defender’s legs and then slid it past Martínez into the net. It was a moment that shocked the soccer world as a nation with a population that roughly has the same population as Sacramento, California, drew level with the reigning world champions.
A few minutes later, Messi had an opportunity to retake the lead when he was through on goal alone, but Vozinha closed down the space and made a tough save. It was a sign of things to come for the Blue Sharks as the Argentines began to twist the screw in search of an answer.
Vozinha denied Messi again in the 73rd minute as the Argentine goal scorer took a quick free kick that seemed destined for the upper corner. The second half hydration break came just after, as suddenly it became apparent that a historic situation could be brewing.
The tension continued to grow in Hard Rock Stadium in South Florida as Argentina went in search of a winner as Cape Verde could barely get out of their own half. An intense moment came in the final minute of regular time as a Messi ball sent into the box was headed and struck the arm of Pico Lopes of Cape Verde, but the referee ruled there was no penalty because the ball struck Lopes’ head before hitting his arm.
The clock ticked down and Vozinha made one more critical save on a Messi free kick, and the Blue Sharks forced the defending World Cup champions into an extra 30 minutes to decide the match.
It didn’t take long into the extra session for Argentina to finally break the deadlock. An Argentine corner kick went long across the Cape Verde box after being flicked on and Lissandro Martínez was stationed at the far post. He controlled the ball and fired into the top shelf at the near post over Vozinha’s outstretched hands to make it 2-1.
It looked to be the dying of a dream for Cape Verde, before the most remarkable moment of this 2026 World Cup.
In the minutes before the end of the first 15 of extra time, Sidny Lopes Cabral of Cape Verde got the ball on the left edge of the Argentine box. With a few feet of space, Cabral took an audacious shot.
It curled. It curled. It kept curling … and it settled neatly into the side-netting beyond Martínez, tying the game at 2-2 in the 103rd minute.
After pausing for the intermission between the 15-minute extra time halves, Argentina found their footing again and once again took the lead.
Cristian Romero leapt above the pack in the Cape Verde box to get his head on the end of a Messi corner. The ball deflected off the hand of a Cape Verde defender and floated over a diving Vozinha, bulging the net to make it 3-2.
It was eventually ruled to be an own goal off Cape Verde’s Diney Borges.
The Blue Sharks did not go quietly. Another great attempt by Cabral, another curling effort on a free kick, forced a remarkable save from Martínez to keep holding on to the one-goal lead. The Cape Verdeans kept pushing for an equalizer and came within inches on multiple occasions.
But ultimately, it was not meant to be. The Blue Sharks were emotional in defeat and the Argentines knew they had narrowly avoided disaster.
It is a game that will long live in the memory of Cape Verdeans and soccer fans around the world, a moment when one of soccer’s smallest David’s almost slew its mightiest Goliath.
Egypt makes history by defeating Australia, 1-1 (4-2)
Egypt is through to the Round of 16 after defeating Australia in a dramatic penalty shootout on Friday, marking a historic first World Cup knockout-round win for the Pharaohs.
The match finished 1-1 after 120 minutes and Egypt won 4-2 on penalties.
Egypt opened the scoring in the 13th minute through a brilliant header from Emam Ashour, who snuck behind the Australian defense and powerfully directed the ball into the bottom left corner. Aussie keeper Patrick Beach couldn’t do anything about it, such was the quality of the cross from Karim Hafez, with the Aussie defense looking unprepared to deal with the problem.
Ashour couldn’t stop smiling after the goal. Minutes later, the cameras went back to him, and he was still grinning at scoring in a World Cup knockout match.
Egypt’s Omar Marmoush came within inches of doubling his team’s lead off the opening kickoff of the second half. The Pharaohs did eventually put the ball into the back of a net, but – to their chagrin – it was their own.
Off an Australian set piece, Aiden O’Neill sent a ball into the Egyptian box and it took a deflection off the head of Mohamed Hany and in past Mostafa Shobeir, providing the equalizer for Australia in the 55th minute.
The game settled into a stalemate over the next half hour as both teams had a couple opportunities, but no one really had a clear-cut shot at breaking the deadlock.
The save of the match – and potentially of the tournament – came just two minutes before the end of full time when Egypt’s Ramy Rabia got his head on a cross into the Australian box. It appeared to be goal-bound for a late heartbreaker until Beach soared into the air and got a hand on the ball, hitting it over the bar for a corner kick that came to nothing. Beach’s save kept the game on level terms as extra time loomed.
That sent the match into 30 extra minutes to settle things. There were no goals to be found and the teams began to prepare for a shootout. With one minute left in extra time, Beach was subbed off in favor of keeper Mathew Ryan, who was seen as the penalty specialist.
The Egyptians took the early 1-0 lead after Mahmoud Saber blasted the ball past Ryan following an Aussie miss. Jackson Irvine for Australia calmly put his penalty into the top right corner to give his team hope, and Ramy Rabia restored Egypt’s advantage with a calmly taken strike. Awer Mabil stepped up next for Australia and slotted his penalty home before Mohamed Salah walked up for Egypt.
Salah cheekily went down the middle, with Ryan unable to block, making it 3-2 to Egypt and piling the pressure on Australia. Lucas Herrington was next up for Australia and sent his shot off the bar, opening the door for Egypt to win the game on the next kick.
Hossam Abdelmaguid stepped up for Egypt with the chance to win it. He buried it in the bottom left corner.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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