For an hour or so it looked routine. Then Cape Verde, at their first World Cup, nearly authored one of the tournament's great shocks — and Argentina had to survive extra time to avoid it.
A fright for the champions
Argentina beat Cape Verde 3-2 after extra time at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, advancing from the round of 32, ESPN reported. Lionel Messi put the reigning champions ahead in the first half, but the African debutants refused to fold, twice hauling themselves level, including a strike in extra time that briefly put the game on a knife's edge, Al Jazeera reported.
The decisive moment came late in extra time, when a Cristian Romero header deflected off a Cape Verde defender and into the net — an own goal that finally separated the sides. Cape Verde, roared on by neutrals, went out with their heads high after a run that captured the tournament's imagination.
Salah awaits Messi
The result set the bracket's most anticipated tie. Argentina will play Egypt in the round of 16 on July 7 in Atlanta — a match that pits Messi against Mohamed Salah, two of the era's defining forwards, with a quarterfinal place on the line. Egypt reached this stage for the first time by beating Australia on penalties, a landmark win for the North African side, and Salah, playing through a hamstring problem, coolly converted his spot-kick in that shootout.
What it means
For Argentina, the scare is a warning as much as a relief: the defending champions have advanced, but they have not convinced, and the knockout rounds rarely forgive sloppiness. For the neutral, the payoff is the fixture ahead. Messi against Salah, Argentina against a giant-slaying Egypt, is exactly the kind of collision the expanded World Cup was built to produce — and after the drama in Miami, it arrives with the stakes raised. Kickoff in Atlanta is Tuesday.
