For 91 minutes Argentina thought they had done just enough. For the next 20 they discovered that Cape Verde had not read the script. In the sweltering heat of Hard Rock Stadium, the reigning world champions clawed their way into the last 16 of the World Cup with a 3-2 win so frayed at the edges that relief, not celebration, was the overriding emotion at the final whistle.

This was supposed to be a procession. Instead it became an examination, one that Argentina passed only by the narrowest of margins and with the help of a decisive deflection off a defender in the dying embers of extra time. Cape Verde, the tournament's great romantics, refused to be swept aside, twice hauling themselves level and twice threatening to pull off one of the great upsets of the modern game.

That they ultimately fell short does nothing to diminish what they gave to the occasion. And that Argentina prevailed says everything about the stubborn, scrambling resolve of a side who found themselves in a fight they never expected and somehow refused to lose it.

Messi sets the tone

The early rhythm belonged entirely to Argentina, and it was fitting that the game's defining early moment came from its defining figure. On 29 minutes, Lisandro Martínez slid a through ball into the channel and Lionel Messi did the rest, taking possession on the right side of the six-yard box and steering a left-footed finish into the top-right corner. It was a goal of clinical simplicity, the kind Messi has made routine across two decades on the grandest stages.

For a while it looked as though that single strike might be enough to settle matters. Argentina controlled the tempo, moved the ball with authority and gave little indication of the drama that lay ahead. Cape Verde, though, absorbed the pressure without panic, biding their time and waiting for a foothold.

That foothold arrived shortly after the hour. Ryan Mendes worked space on the right and picked out Deroy Duarte, who lashed a right-footed shot from a difficult angle into the bottom-left corner. Suddenly the underdogs were level, the stadium recalibrated, and a contest that had felt controlled was thrown wide open.

Chaos in extra time

Argentina thought they had reclaimed the night deep into stoppage time. From a corner, Alexis Mac Allister nodded the ball into the path of Lisandro Martínez, who curled a left-footed effort into the top-right corner in the 92nd minute. It was the sort of late blow that usually breaks a team's spirit for good, a centre-half turning matchwinner when it mattered most.

But Cape Verde would not go quietly. In the 103rd minute, with the additional period barely under way, Yannick Semedo teed up Sidny Cabral, whose right-footed strike from the left side of the box flew into the top-right corner. Level again, against all logic, and this time with the momentum firmly on their side. Argentina looked rattled, stretched, and a heartbeat away from the abyss.

The decisive twist, when it came, owed as much to fortune as to force. On 111 minutes, an Argentina attack ended with the ball ricocheting off the unfortunate Diney Borges and into his own net. It was a cruel way for Cape Verde to concede after so much defiance, and it proved the difference between the sides across a breathless 120 minutes.

What it means

For Argentina, the destination matters more than the manner. They are through to the round of 16, their status as world champions intact, even if the performance raised questions that their coaching staff will spend the coming days interrogating. A side of this pedigree cannot expect to twice surrender a lead against opponents ranked so far below them and escape unpunished in the rounds to come.

There will be concern at the fragility that crept in whenever Cape Verde pressed. Twice Argentina led, twice they were pegged back, and only a deflection spared them the ignominy of a penalty shootout or worse. Messi and Martínez provided the moments of quality that ultimately carried them, but the collective looked far from the ruthless machine that lifted the trophy.

Still, tournaments are won by surviving nights like this. The greatest sides are often defined not by their most fluent displays but by their capacity to win ugly, to stumble across the line when nothing comes easily. Argentina have that in their locker, and they will take it into the next round knowing they were tested and did not break.

Cape Verde depart proud

For Cape Verde, elimination will sting all the more for how close they came. To take the world champions to the 111th minute of a World Cup knockout tie, and to do so after conceding first and falling behind again in the closing seconds of normal time, speaks to a character that will endure long after this tournament has faded from memory. Duarte and Cabral etched their names into the nation's football history with goals that deserved a grander reward.

There is no shame in a defeat authored by an own goal and a moment of misfortune. This was a team that played without fear, that refused to accept the roles assigned to them, and that pushed one of the game's superpowers to the very limit. Ryan Mendes and Yannick Semedo pulled the strings; Diney Borges will be consoled, not condemned, for the touch that ended it all.

They leave the World Cup with heads held high and reputations enhanced. Argentina march on, bloodied but standing, into a round of 16 that will demand a good deal more than they managed here. Both sides will remember this Miami night for very different reasons, but neither will forget it in a hurry.