“MESSI DID IT AGAIN… AND THIS ONE PUTS HIM IN A DIFFERENT WORLD CUP CONVERSATION.” Lionel Messi’s Latest World Cup Night Looked Like Another Argentina Escape, But The Numbers Behind It Tell A Much Bigger Story—One Legendary Record Fell, Another Superstar Was Left Chasing, And One Argentina First Made The Match Even Harder To Ignore.
Lionel Messi’s Argentina needed extra-time to beat Cape Verde 3-2 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the minnows equalising twice before Diney Borges’ own goal in the 111th minute gave the defending champions the winner.
Earlier, Egypt needed penalties to get past Australia, triumphing 4-2 after the game finished 1-1 after extra time.
N.B. – Stats from Colombia vs Ghana will be added following the conclusion of the game, which you can follow live, here.
Australia 1 (2) – 1 (4) Egypt
Egypt advanced from a FIFA World Cup knockout stage round for the first time.
Egypt reached the Round of 16 of a FIFA World Cup for the second time and first in 92 years (since 1934, when the tournament started from the round of 16) .
Australia have never advanced from a FIFA World Cup KO stage round (eliminated in Round of 16 in 2006 and 2022).
Mohamed Salah celebrates after helping Egypt beat Australia in the round of 32 at the World Cup. Getty Images
Emam Ashour joined Mohamed Salah (3) and Abdel Rahman Fawzi (2) as the only Egyptian players to score multiple World Cup goals.
Ashour also became the second Egypt player to score in a World Cup knockout stage game after Abdel Rahman Fawzi, who scored 2 goals in the Round of 16 of 1934.
Mohamed Hany scored the 13th own goal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup – which is the most in a single edition, breaking the record set in 2018 with 12.
Mohamed Salah scored Egypt’s third penalty in the shootout, having missed his last two penalties in game, and last two penalties in a shootout for club and country.
Both of Australia’s FIFA World Cup KO stage goals have been own goals (also in 2022 Round of 16 vs Argentina).
Argentina 0 – 0 Cape Verde
Lionel Messi became the first player (man or woman) to score 20 career WC goals, extending his FIFA WC scoring record (Mbappé is second with 18).
Messi now has 12 career goal contributions in the FIFA World Cup KO Stage (6 goals, 6 assists), passing Pelé and Kylian Mbappé; for the most in the last 60 years (on record).
Messi became the first player in FIFA World Cup history to score in 8 consecutive appearances.
Messi became the first player to 7+ goals in two separate World Cups (2022, 2026). (Kylian Mbappé is currently on 6 goals this World Cup).
Messi (7) is one goal shy of tying Guillermo Stábile’s record (8 goals in 1930) for most goals by an Argentine at a FIFA World Cup, and two goals shy of Ademir’s record (9 goals in 1950) for most by a South American man at a World Cup.
Messi also has a five-game scoring streak in the World Cup knockout stage, becoming the third man to score in five straight FIFA WC KO Stage matches after Gyorgy Sarosi for Hungary (1934-38) and Vavá for Brazil (1958-62) {Note: Brazil’s Leônidas (1934-38) is excluded as 3rd place match is not considered a KO Stage match}.
Messi has been directly involved in 10 goals in his last six WC KO Stage appearances at the FIFA World Cup (6 goals, 4 assists), scoring in each of his last five such games.
Messi has 14 World Cup goals after turning 35. The next highest is Cameroon’s Roger Milla with 5. All other 35+ year-olds at the World Cup have combined for 25 goals.
Messi has scored against 14 of the 22 teams he has faced at the FIFA World Cup.
Messi became the third oldest player with a goal in FIFA World Cup Knockout stage (39y 9d). After Cristiano Ronaldo (42y 39d) and Pepê (39y 283d).
Lisandro Martínez made his first-ever international assist, supplying the pass for Messi’s opening goal against Cape Verde. Martinez became the tenth different Argentina player to assist Messi in the World Cup, none more than once.
The assist was measured at 42.5 meters (~46.5 yards) – the longest assist by an Argentine player at the World Cup in the last 60 years.
Lisandro Martínez became the first Argentine defender to record a goal and an assist in a single World Cup match since 1966.
Lionel Messi made his 30th FIFA World Cup appearances, extending the most in tournament history (Cristiano Ronaldo is second with 26). Messi became the first man to make 30+ appearances at the FIFA World Cup (Kristine Lilly made 30 appearances in the FIFA Women’s World Cup).
This was also Messi’s 13th knockout stage appearance at the World Cup, one shy of Miroslav Klose’s record (14)
Deroy Duarte scored Cape Verde’s first World Cup KO Round goal the day before his 27th birthday. Duarte also became the first African player to score against Argentina at the FIFA World Cup Knockout stage.
Lionel Scaloni took charge of his 100th match for Argentina tonight. Entering this match, Argentina had a record of W72 D18 L9 under Scaloni, winning four major trophies (Copa América 2021, CONMEBOL-UEFA Finalissima 2022, FIFA World Cup 2022 and Copa América 2024).
Vozinha (40 years, 30 days old) became the fifth player 40 years old or older to appear in a knockout match at this year’s FIFA World Cup (C. Ronaldo, L. Modric, E. Dzeko, M. Neuer). Prior to 2026, only two 40-year-olds had ever played in a knockout match in the FIFA World Cup (Dino Zoff in 1982, Peter Shilton in 1990).
With eight saves tonight, Vozinha finished with 18 saves at this year’s FIFA World Cup, third most behind only Curaçao’s Eloy Room (20) and Paraguay’s Orlando Gill (19).
Vozinha’s 8 saves were the most by an African GK in a KO Stage match at the FIFA World Cup since Rais M’Bolhi for Algeria in 2014 vs Germany; (5 of Vozinha’s saves were vs Messi).
Sidny Cabral’s shot had a 0.03 expected goal value, only 6 goals have had a lower expected goal value in this FIFA World Cup (242 goals scored so far, excluding own goals)
Diney Borges’ own goal (111′) became the third latest goal by Argentina at the FIFA World Cup and latest since Ángel Di María’s winner (118) in the 2014 Rd of 16 vs Switzerland.
There have now been 53 goals from set pieces at the 2026 FIFA World Cup – the most in a single FIFA World Cup since 1966.
Argentina have now won 12 extra-time games at the FIFA World Cup – they are tied with Germany for most in FIFA WC history
