‘No one gives you anything for free’: Lionel Messi applauds Cape Verde after Argentina escape

Cape Verde’s Sidny Lopes Cabral (13) reacts to a loss during the World Cup Round of 32 soccer match between Argentina and Cape Verde in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo/Agencies) Argentina survived one of the World Cup’s biggest scares to beat Cape Verde 3-2 after extra time on Friday to book a place in the last 16, with Lionel Messi praising the underdogs after they pushed the defending champions all the way.Tottenham defender Cristian Romero scored in the 111th minute when his header from Messi’s corner was deflected by Cape Verde defender Diney Borges before heading into the net.Messi opened the scoring with his 20th FIFA World Cup goal to extend his tournament record. Lisandro Martínez then put Argentina back in front in stoppage time after Cape Verde equalised. The African side struck again in extra time before Romero’s effort leveled the match.The result sent Argentina into the round of 16 for a sixth consecutive World Cup, but only after Cape Verde came close to pulling off one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history.Messi said his team had to fight until the end to go through.“As this team has shown many times and as I have said many times, they compete,” Messi said in Spanish. “And we competed until the end.Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni also praised Cape Verde for the challenge they present.“I have to praise our opponents,” Scaloni said. “The truth is that when people say there is no such thing as an easy opponent, today (Cape Verde) proved they are a great team.”Messi said Argentina knew ahead of the game that Cape Verde would not be easy to beat and pointed to their results earlier in the tournament.“We knew it would be a very difficult game; this team didn’t lose against Spain and Uruguay for a reason. We did the hardest part, which was to find the first goal,” Messi said. “We thought from then on we would start to find our game and be more relaxed, but it was the complete opposite. We were losing the ball, we were sitting back, we couldn’t push them well and they hit with their strengths. We knew it was going to be difficult; this is a knock-out tournament and nobody gives you anything for free.”Cape Verde’s run at the 2026 World Cup has ended after a history-making campaign. With a population of around 525,000, the island nation became the smallest country to reach the knockout stages of the tournament.Led by 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinga, Cape Verde have already surprised many by drawing with former champions Spain and Uruguay as well as Saudi Arabia before taking Argentina to extra time in the round of 32.