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In World Cup news, Lionel Messi, the "God of Football," has led Argentina to the Round of 16, becoming the first player in history to reach 20 career World Cup goals. Cape Verde, a small island nation with a population of 520,000, earned applause from football fans worldwide for a breathtaking performance against Argentina.

Reporter Pyeon Gwanghyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

In the 29th minute of the first half, Messi set another milestone in World Cup history.

After smoothly controlling a long pass from the back, he fired a quick left-footed shot into the back of the net against Cape Verde.

With this goal, Messi became the first player to score 20 goals in the history of the World Cup finals. He also moved to the top of the scoring leaderboard for this tournament with his 7th goal, surpassing France's Kylian Mbappe.

Following Messi's record-breaking goal, Cape Verde launched a fierce counterattack.

They equalized in the 14th minute of the second half with a right-footed shot from Duarte. Goalkeeper Vozinha, one of the biggest breakout stars of this tournament, then made three spectacular saves against Messi's decisive shots, pushing the match into extra time.

When Argentina pulled ahead again with a goal by Martinez in the 2nd minute of the first half of extra time, Cape Verde responded 11 minutes later with a wonder goal from Cabral that found the corner of the net.

With the match seemingly headed for a penalty shootout, it was Messi's left foot that saved Argentina once more.

In the 6th minute of the second half of extra time, he delivered a sharp corner kick directly to the head of Romero. The header grazed the hand of an opposing defender, resulting in a decisive own goal.

After a grueling 120-minute battle that ended in a 3-2 victory and a spot in the Round of 16 for Argentina, Messi paid tribute to the fighting spirit shown by the island nation of 500,000 people.

[Lionel Messi / Argentina National Football Team Forward: I expected it to be a very difficult match. There was a reason why this team had not lost to Spain or Uruguay.]

The players of Cape Verde, who gave the defending champions a scare in their first-ever World Cup appearance, expressed their pride.

[Vozinha / Cape Verde National Football Team Goalkeeper: I want to congratulate the entire team. Our performance was fantastic and amazing, and that is why we leave with our heads held high.]

Having narrowly escaped elimination thanks to Messi's performance, Argentina will face Egypt on July 8 for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Reported by Pyeon Gwanghyeon | Video by Ha Seong-won | Graphics by Park Tae-young