Argentina 1-0 Cape Verde Half Time Thoughts: Messi At It Again With Another Beautiful Goal

Half time between Argentina and Cape Verde in Miami and a return to the city of his club saw Lionel Messi shine yet again for Argentina as a place in the last 16 of the 2026 World Cup against Egypt, after their win on penalties over Australia, hangs in the balance.

The first 25 minutes before the hydration break were quiet. As expected, Argentina had the majority of possession but were unable to carve open the Cape Verdean defence to create any clear chances limiting them to only two shots in the first 25 minutes.

The Cape Verdeans did have the occasional opportunity to break after winning the ball in potentially threatening positions, but Cubist's men were hesitant to overload the Argentinian half. Any hopes of a fast break were extinguished as the Argentinian defence outnumbered the Cape Verdean forwards.

The quiet start was eventually broken as Lisandro Martinez showed his elite quality on the ball firing a lofted pass from the halfway line to none other than Lionel Messi, who calmly, plucked the ball from the air and stabbed his effort beyond Vozinha to open the scoring for the reigning champions. Half an hour on the clock and the South Americans took the lead.

That makes it seven goals already this tournament for Messi as the 39-year-old extends his record of all time World Cup top goalscorer with 20 goals.

With the second half ahead, La Albiceleste look to be in the driving seat, but the Blue Sharks are still in this game.