Following Argentina's 3-2 extra-time victory against Cape Verde in the World Cup 2026 Round of 16, Messi spent considerable time analyzing the issues his team revealed on the Miami field. "In the World Cup knockout rounds, nothing comes easy", Messi stated. "While teams are often judged by their reputation, we anticipated Cape Verde's strength."

Lionel Messi celebrates after Argentina's 3-2 victory over Cape Verde in the World Cup 2026 Round of 16 at Miami Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, US, on 3/7/2026. Photo: AP

After Messi opened the scoring in the 29th minute, Argentina eased off, allowing Cape Verde to equalize in the 59th minute. Early in extra time, Lisandro Martinez put the South American representatives ahead, but then Sidny Lopes Cabral scored a spectacular equalizer. Argentina ultimately secured the 3-2 win and advanced only thanks to an own goal by Diney Borges. When asked about the resilience of the reigning champions, Messi agreed.

"Argentina always fights with all its might, as we have shown for a long time", the Argentina captain added. "Today we capitalized on long passes and set pieces. We have been practicing them for a long time, both in attack and defense. In a tournament like this, set pieces are crucial."

Messi's opening goal

Beyond the positives, the Argentina captain frankly admitted his team faced significant difficulties organizing their pressing against Cape Verde's play style. "When we wanted to press from the defensive midfielder to the opponent's center-back, the distance between the lines was too great, forcing our center-backs to push up considerably", Messi analyzed.

The 39-year-old superstar suggested Argentina's pressing lacked synchronicity. Consequently, Cape Verde consistently had a numerical advantage in key areas. Despite not retaining possession for long periods, the African representatives forced the reigning champions to run extensively.

Sidny Lopes Cabral's spectacular long-range strike

Messi also affirmed that Argentina had anticipated a difficult match and was not surprised by Cape Verde's performance. "It's no coincidence this team was undefeated against Spain and Uruguay", he said. "We did the hardest thing, scoring the first goal, and thought we would then regain our usual style of play. But everything turned out completely opposite. That's the nature of the 2026 World Cup. Everything is very balanced, very difficult. All matches will be extremely challenging."

Despite being satisfied with advancing, Messi still believes Argentina has much to improve before the Round of 16. The team's issues were most apparent in the match against Cape Verde, following their perfect record against Algeria, Austria, and Jordan in the group stage.

Messi continued to be a standout performer for Argentina, scoring the opening goal and increasing his World Cup tally to 20 goals. He also delivered the cross that sparked Lisandro Martinez's goal and was involved in the situation that led to Diney's own goal. The 39-year-old captain has now scored in 8 consecutive World Cup matches, a tournament record.

Having overcome Cape Verde, Lionel Scaloni's team will face Egypt in the World Cup 2026 Round of 16 at Atlanta Stadium on 7/7.

Hoang An (according to TyC Sports)