Argentina survived one of the biggest fears of FIFA World Cup to beat Cape Verde 3-2 after extra time on Friday and book a place in the round of 16, with: Lionel Messi praising the underdogs after they pushed the defending champions all the way.Tottenham defender Cristian Romero scored the winner in the 111th minute when his header from Messi’s corner deflected off Cape Verde defender Diney Borges before heading into the net.Messi opened the scoring with his 20th FIFA World Cup goal, extending his tournament record. Lisandro Martínez put Argentina back in front in stoppage time after Cape Verde equalised. The African side scored again in added time before Romero’s effort settled the game.The result sent Argentina to the round of 16 for the sixth consecutive World Cup, but only after Cape Verde almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.Messi said his team will have to fight until the end to get through.“As this team has shown many times, and as I have said many times, it competes,” Messi said in Spanish. “And we competed until the end.”Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni also praised Cape Verde for the challenge they made.“I have to give credit to our opponents,” Scaloni said. “The truth is, when people say that nothing is easy. against, today (Cape Verde) proved that they are a good team.”Messi said Argentina knew before the match that Cape Verde would not be easy to beat, pointing to their results earlier in the tournament.“We know that this is a very difficult game; this team did not lose to Spain and Uruguay for a reason. We did the most difficult part, which is to find the first goal,” said Messi. “We thought that from then on, we would start to find our game and be more relaxed, but it was the complete opposite. We lost the ball, we sat back, we couldn’t pressure them well, and they hit their strengths. We know it will be difficult; it’s a knockout 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 nation to reach the tournament’s knockout stage.Led by 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, Cape Verde have already surprised many by drawing former champions Spain and Uruguay, as well as Saudi Arabia, before taking Argentina to extra time in the round of 32.