Key events<\/p>\n
ET 1 min: I scoffed when they expanded the World Cup, but I think it\u2019s nice they let underdogs like Argentina and England play against Cape Verde<\/a> and DR Congo.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Full-time: Argentina 1-1 Cape Verde<\/p>\n Come on, we all knew that was going to happen. Cape Verde<\/a> have taken the world champions to extra-time. Whatever happens now, this will be remembered for a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very long time. Maybe even longer than that.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min + 7 min: Cape Verde are pressing! But Argentina come back. As time ticks down.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min + 6 min: Now it\u2019s Cape Verde<\/a> with a free-kick. Yes, Cape Verde are attacking with the game in the balance. Argentina clear.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min + 5 min: Messi, who looks shattered, stands over the ball. The ball skips past the wall and flops up awkwardly in front of Vozinha who does enough to block.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min + 4 min: Argentina are getting plenty of joy from the wings. Not enough joy though. And Messi has another free-kick on the edge of the area \u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min + 3 min: Cape Verde get it into the Argentina half for a brief respite.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min + 2 min: This is an Argentinian onslaught now. Cape Verde<\/a> look understandably tired. I\u2019m tired. Paredes smacks it from distance but Vozinha saves. Of course he does.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min + 1min: Eight mins of added time.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min: Handball by Cape Verde<\/a> in the area? No, the ball came off the defender\u2019s head and on to his hand so it\u2019s no pen. 500,000 Cape Verdeans breathe a sigh of relief.<\/p>\n The ball hits the arm of Pico Lopes from Alexis MacAllister header. Photograph: Darrian Traynor\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.54 EDT<\/p>\n 88 min: The match has turned to what many would have anticipated. Constant Argentina pressure and heroic Cape Verde<\/a> defending. But that was far from the case for much of the night.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 87 min: Messi\u2019s corner is punched out by Vozinha.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 86 min: Even if Argentina<\/a> win here they\u2019ve had to work a lot harder in sapping heat than they\u2019d have liked. Mac Allister\u2019s shot is deflected for a corner.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 84 min: De Paul is off for Paredes. A hairy moment at an Argentina corner for Cape Verde<\/a> but they just about get it away.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 82 min: Oh wow. \u200bPico Lopes slides in as the ball flies across goal. For a minute it looks like it will loop into the net but it ends up being a good clearance. Any clearance at this point is a good one.<\/p>\n Cape Verde’s Pico Lopes clears. Photograph: Marco Bello\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.51 EDT<\/p>\n 80 min: Not that it matters right now, but this match confirms how far ahead of everyone else France are at this World Cup<\/a>. Kevin Pina, who has already been booked, has a scary moment after a foul but he escapes further punishment.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 78 min: Oh my, free-kick to Cape Verde<\/a> around 40-yards out. Kevin Pina mishits it and it dribbles a wide. Worth a try \u2013 2% of the time that rockets into the back of the net and he has one of the greatest sporting moments of all time. I like those odds.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 75 min: Drinks break. We all need a few. \u201cCape Verde has already won. Even if they don\u2019t advance. This tiny country is making the defending champs with the greatest player ever sweat. Sometimes there are moral victories,\u201d writes Mary Waltz.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 72 min: \u2026 Messi takes the free-kick quickly while everyone else is standing around and Vozinha flies over to save just.<\/p>\n Vozinha saves again from Messi. Photograph: Amanda Perobelli\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.37 EDT<\/p>\n 71 min: Messi is fouled right on the edge of the area by Cabral. Messi stands over the ball, this is right where he wants it \u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 70 min: The composure that Cape Verde<\/a> showed before they scored has deserted them a little recently. But you\u2019d probably be a little fried if you were drawing with the world champions in the World Cup knockouts.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 68 min: Kevin Pina is booked after bundling Messi to the ground. Argentina<\/a> have a free kick around 35 yards out. Messi\u2019s shot hits the wall.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 67 min: Enzo Fernandez tries a bicycle kick that screws wide. You\u2019ll need to do better than that against Cape Verde<\/a>, Enzo.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 65 min: If Argentina were taking things slowly before the equaliser they\u2019ve woken up now. They\u2019re a little more urgent now. What have you done Cape Verde<\/a>. Again, the population of Cape Verde is 500,000.<\/p>\n Supporters react in Praia. Photograph: Jose Correia\/AFP\/Getty Imagesand in Rotterdam. Photograph: ANP\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.46 EDT<\/p>\n 63 min: Vozinha! Messi is through on goal but the keeper charges out to save. Lautaro Martinez is off for Julian Alvarez.<\/p>\n Messi is denied by Vozinha. Photograph: Joosep Martinson\/FIFA\/Getty Imagesand the chance is missed. Photograph: Crist\u00f3bal Herrera\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.43 EDT<\/p>\n 61 min: That wasn\u2019t the case of heroic defence by an underdog before a fluke strike tied the game. Cape Verde<\/a> had simply been the better side this half and looked incredibly composed, never more so than in the beautiful buildup to that goal.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n It was coming? A Ryan Mendes cross nutmegs an Argentina<\/a> defender and Duarte fires the ball past Martinez from a tight angle.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.22 EDT<\/p>\n GOAAAL!!! Argentina 1-1 Cape Verde (Deroy Duarte 59 min)<\/p>\n Ummmm\u2026<\/p>\n Cape Verde\u2019s Deroy Duarte fires in the equaliser. Photograph: Marco Bello\/Reuters Photograph: Amanda Perobelli\/ReutersDuarte celebrates. Photograph: Marco Bello\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.24 EDT<\/p>\n 58 min: A reminder: Cape Verde<\/a> are only one goal down against the world champions and are not being completely outplayed. Unlike Argentina, they are unbeaten in World Cup history.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 56 min: If you ever wondered what LeBron v Jordan would look like: The two GOATS face off \u2013 Vozinha takes on Messi near goal and (somewhat clumsily it has to be said) gets the ball away.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 54 min: Messi turns provider, almost playing in Nahuel Molina at pretty much the same spot Messi was in for his goal. There\u2019s a reason why Messi has scored 9,468,936 professional goals though \u2013 Molina doesn\u2019t have the same control and the ball flicks out of play. Up the other end Deroy Duarte has a great effort that Emi Martinez dives to save.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 52 min: Cape Verde<\/a> have had the better of the very early stage of this half. \u201cBy now we should be used to this. Cape Verde a small nation with far fewer resources and training infrastructure than Argentina, or any of their Group opponents, simply holds their own. Imagine an improved version of this once Cape Verde\u2019s share of prize money gets used for some football investment,\u201d writes in sandgk sandgk.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 49 min: Steven Moreira, not for the first time, finds some space on the right and then wastes his cross. Cape Verde<\/a> do have a corner though. Cabral picks it up and his shot is deflected for a corner. It\u2019s cleared but Cape Verde are 2-0 up in corners. Small steps and all that.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 46 min: And we\u2019re back. Remember Cape Verde, you\u2019re only one goal down and things are looking tricky but worse things can happen to you on your trip to the US<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Argentina (or Cape Verde!) will play Egypt in the next round. Here\u2019s how their match with Australia went down earlier:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Half-time emails:<\/p>\n Colin Livingston: \u201cThis Cape Verde<\/a> team is so likeable, I think because they seem so irrepressible, whatever is in front of them. They just get up and go again. There\u2019s more established teams that could learn from it.\u201d<\/p>\n Simon McMahon: \u201cFar be it from me to annotate an XI from the legendary Mac Millings, but if we\u2019re talking surprise packages, maybe a place on the bench for \u2018awe\u2019ssie Ardiles? Or whatthefucKenny Dalglish?\u201d<\/p>\n John Burrell: \u201cIs that hunched shooting style of Messi unique to him? Does it give some advantage like lower centre of gravity, greater stability, head over ball, better control or something? It seems so identifiably Messi. I know he\u2019s a freak. I\u2019ve seen those clips where he\u2019s surrounded by 6-8 players and still scores.\u201d<\/p>\n Gregory Phillips: \u201cThis may an overly simplistic reading, but Messi seems to be playing for Argentina<\/a> with more joy and less pressure now the burden of never having won the World Cup has been lifted. And what\u2019s scary for everyone else is the fact that he\u2019s now playing with house moneys apparently making him more dangerous than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s probably just playing in MLS.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Half-time: Argentina 1-0 Cape Verde<\/p>\n That piece of brilliance from Messi aside, Cape Verde<\/a> have handled Argentina pretty well. On the flip side, Argentina may well know that they need to save their energy for the latter stages of this tournament and are aware one goal will probably be enough \u2013 they\u2019ve been happy to keep things calm for much of this match. Cape Verde also looked a little more ragged towards the end of the half. Still, they\u2019re one sweet strike away from taking this to extra-time.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min +2: A clumsy challenge from Messi gives Cape Verde<\/a> a free-kick. He isn\u2019t booked.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min: Talking of GOATs \u2026 Vozinha plunges to his left to handle a long shot from Enzo Fernandez. Of course he does.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a018.46 EDT<\/p>\n 43 min: Vozinha has a scary moment as Lautaro Martinez chases down a loose ball. The Cape Verde<\/a> keeps gathers as Lautaro Martinez gives him a little kick. Leave our GOAT alone!.<\/p>\n Lautaro Martinez catches Vozinha. Photograph: Steph Chambers\/FIFA\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a018.50 EDT<\/p>\n 40 min: A beautiful ball into the box finds Moreira, whose cross finds Sidny Lopes Cabral, who tries another cross but play breaks down.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 38 min: Loose header from Argentina<\/a> and Moreira has a thrash from distance \u2013 you never know! \u2013 but it\u2019s well side.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 35 min: Argentina<\/a> ping it around for a bit. They can save their energy a little in the sapping heat thanks to that goal. Messi\u2019s seventh goal of the tournament puts him one ahead of Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, who plays tomorrow against Paraguay.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 33 min: \u201cAre there any superlatives left for Messi? How can anyone deal with this phenomenon?” asks Steven Grundy. I wrote a Messi profile before the 2014 World Cup<\/a> and people were running out of superlatives then. The fact that he\u2019s better at World Cups in his mid to late 30s than he was in his 20s is ridiculous. <\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 31 min: Cape Verde<\/a> had been playing well until that point. It\u2019s not really like they did much wrong, Messi was just too good. Now Cape Verde have to do something they\u2019ve struggled with this tournament: create chances.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>GOAL Argentina 1-0 Cape Verde (Messi, who else, 28 min)<\/p>\n Just the usual genius from the great man. He drifts into space, controls a long ball beautifully with the outside of his boot, around seven yards from goal, and lashes the ball into the roof of the net.<\/p>\n Lionel Messi fires in the opener. Photograph: Ian MacNicol\/Getty Images Photograph: Megan Briggs\/Getty ImagesMessi celebrates. Photograph: Michael Reaves\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a018.40 EDT<\/p>\n 25 min: Drinks! Cape Verde<\/a> held the European champions in their first match and now they\u2019re holding the world champions. And it\u2019s been pretty comfortable for them. This has not been a case of them flinging their bodies around to deflect shots. Vozinha hasn\u2019t had much to do, and the islanders even had flickers of threats now and then.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 23 min: A lovely sweeping ball nearly finds Jovane Cabral in acres of space on the wing but he can\u2019t control it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 21 min: Medina\u2019s cross is so good it even confuses his teammates. Or maybe it was just bad. Cape Verde<\/a> clear.<\/p>\n