Miami, Florida. Lionel Messi wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. His Argentina teammates did the same.

A thrilling, unforgettable World Cup match against underdog Cape Verde was over, and the defending champions survived after being pushed to the brink.

Cape Verde equalized in regulation and again in extra time, but the Blue Sharks could not respond to Argentina's third goal as La Albiceleste advanced to the Round of 16 with a 3-2 victory on Friday.

Even in defeat, Cape Verde's performance — by a tiny island nation off the west coast of Africa — will stand as one of the most remarkable stories of this, or any, World Cup.

"I have to give credit to our opponents," Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. "The truth is, when people say there's no such thing as an easy opponent, today (Cape Verde) proved they're a great team."

Argentina's winner was credited as an own goal after Cristian Romero's header deflected off Cape Verde defender Diney Borges in the 111th minute. Messi scored early in regulation for his record-extending 20th career World Cup goal, while Lisandro Martínez put Argentina ahead 2-1 in the 92nd minute.

Sidny Lopes Cabral and Deroy Duarte scored for Cape Verde, with both goals serving as stunning equalizers that silenced the pro-Argentina crowd in South Florida. Cabral's curling right-footed strike past goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez in the 103rd minute made an already wild match even more dramatic, leveling the score at 2-2 and raising the possibility of Messi facing standout Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha in a penalty shootout.

Argentina regained the lead eight minutes later, held on from there and advanced to face Egypt, which beat Australia in a penalty shootout earlier Friday, in Atlanta on Tuesday.

"As this team has demonstrated many times, and as I've said many times, it competes," Messi said in Spanish. "And we competed to the end."

Cape Verde's memorable World Cup debut capped a stunning run that few outside the country of about 525,000 people could have predicted. Behind the stellar play of the 40-year-old Vozinha, Cape Verde became the smallest nation to reach the knockout stage, securing surprise draws against former champions Spain and Uruguay, along with another draw against Saudi Arabia.

Vozinha made 10 saves against Argentina, including five on Messi.

"We dignify what our country is. We drew twice against the world champions, we took it to extra time," Cape Verde coach Bubista said. "More than anything, it's being proud of our players, who represented our country with dignity at the World Cup. We showed our identity."

Messi added another brilliant goal to his résumé, slipping behind the Cape Verde defense on a perfectly timed run as Martínez lofted a pass toward him. After a quick touch, Messi hammered his finish into the roof of the net to give Argentina a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute.

The Argentina captain has seven goals in this tournament — one more than France's Kylian Mbappé in the Golden Boot race — and extended his World Cup career scoring record, moving two goals ahead of Mbappé on the all-time tournament list. He has also scored in a record eight consecutive World Cup matches, totaling 12 goals during that streak.

Messi had the game's first clear chance in the 15th minute, sending a shot skidding across the face of goal and just outside the right post. Three minutes later, after being fouled, he took a free kick from about 25 yards that Vozinha handled comfortably before producing several more outstanding saves throughout the match.

"We came so close. We pushed them right to the end," Cape Verde defender Pico Lopes said. "But in the end, it wasn't to be. Disappointed, but I think we showed great character today, great quality to get back into the game twice. They're the world champions for a reason."

Bubista and his players remained on the pitch long after the final whistle. Some sat with their heads bowed. Others shared tearful embraces before waving to their small group of supporters as the reality sank in that their remarkable journey had come to an end.

"We showed that we may be a small country," Bubista said, "but we can play against some of the best teams in the world."

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