Cabo Verde defender Pico Lopes said that Lionel Messi took ‘exception’ to a foul on him by Lopes during Argentina‘s 3-2 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32 win in extra time over the competition debutants on Friday (July 3) in Miami.
Messi, 39, opened the scoring inside 29 minutes before the Blue Sharks equalised through Deroy Duarte to force extra time, where Lisandro Martinez’s strike was cancelled out by Sidny Lopes Cabral. However, Diney’s own goal nine minutes before the close eventually ended Lopes and Co.’s campaign.
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At half-time time, Lopes and Messi were involved in a tense exchange as they trudged off the pitch. Lopes told Cathal Dervan of OTS Media (via The Sun) about what the Argentine told him:
“There was nothing really to it. I think he took exception. I think I gave him a little push because he is just in front of me, and I wanted to make sure he stayed there because if he got in behind me, we saw what he could do last night.
“He was just making it known that, ‘that is a foul, you pushed me off the ball.’ And I was like, ‘I know, but I have to keep you there.’ We spoke about it on the way into half-time, had a handshake, a little laugh, and we got on with it.”
Messi and Co. next take on Egypt at Atlanta on Tuesday (July 7) for a place in the quarter-finals.
Lionel Messi in tight Golden Boot race as Argentina survive Cabo Verde scare in FIFA World Cup
Lionel Messi became the first player to score 20 FIFA World Cup goals as holders Argentina survived an almighty scare from competition debutants Cabo Verde in the Round of 32 on Friday.
In the process, he broke a tie with Kylian Mbappe atop the Golden Boot leaderboard, becoming the first player to score seven times at two different World Cups. A day later, the France captain joined Messi in that club and a share of the Golden Boot lead by scoring in Les Bleus’ 1-0 win over Paraguay on Saturday in the Round of 16.
Playing in his sixth FIFA World Cup, Lionel Messi is three wins away from joining an exclusive group of players to win the competition twice, with Mbappe‘s France a likely opponent in the final.
Edited by Bhargav