Messi Scores 20th World Cup Goal as Argentina Edge Cape Verde
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- Lionel Messi scored his 20th career World Cup goal in Argentina's 3-2 win over Cape Verde in the Round of 32 in Miami, taking his tournament tally to seven and extending the all-time record he set earlier in the group phase.
- Messi is now the first player, male or female, to reach 20 World Cup finals goals, the first to score in eight consecutive World Cup appearances, and the first to score seven or more goals at two separate World Cups (also 2022).
- Messi's seven goals at this tournament would have made him top scorer in 11 of the 13 World Cups held since 1978, per the BBC analysis.
- James McFadden on BBC Radio 5 Live and Ally McCoist on ITV both praised Messi's opener — his run, first touch and finish off a Lisandro Martinez pass — with McCoist calling it 'genius at work.'
- McFadden also flagged a shift in Messi's game: 'here he is getting back to try and win the ball and is leading the press,' noting Messi is contributing defensively in ways he rarely did in earlier tournaments.
- Inter Miami's Argentine fanbase has turned Miami into a Messi shrine since his 2023 arrival — murals, flags draped from buildings, children in his number 10 shirt on the beach, and Argentine restaurants serving milanesa (a reported Messi favorite) with menu items named after him.
- Cape Verde, ranked outside the world's top 60, frustrated second-ranked Argentina for long periods and played with confidence that belied the 43-place ranking gap.
Why it matters: Messi, at 39, is simultaneously breaking scoring records AND evolving his game by leading the press — a dual story the goal-line headlines miss. For the tournament itself, Argentina's narrow escape against a 60-plus-ranked Cape Verde is a warning shot before the knockout rounds tighten. For Miami, the Messi economy (murals, restaurants, memorabilia) shows how a single athlete can anchor a city's cultural identity in under three years.
