Golden Boot Race Heats Up as Lionel Messi Hits 20 World Cup Goals

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi continued to score goals, and he made it appear effortless.

His aspirations to win the World Cup a second time in a row persisted as well, and that achievement was far from simple.

Messi's goal in the 29th minute extended his record and put him two goals ahead of France's Kylian Mbappé on the all-time list with his 20th World Cup goal. Argentina defeated a massive underdog, Cape Verde, 3-2 in extra time in the first game of what turned out to be an exciting evening.

Messi appeared to have been struck in the knee after a collision with a Cape Verde player, as evidenced by a photo of him later at his press conference with a big lump on his head.

Regarding the goose-egg over his right eye, he was quoted in comments translated from Spanish as saying, "It hurts a little but I'm good." There was a clear welt in a FIFA post on X.

After the victory, Messi, who now has goals in a record eight straight World Cup games dating back to Argentina's 2022 championship run, appeared relieved and praised Cape Verde's defense.

Messi stated in his native Spanish, "We did good things and we have to correct the bad things."

Messi has scored 12 goals in his eight-game World Cup streak and has seven goals this tournament, one more than Mbappé in the competition for the Golden Boot. Argentina has needed him to be excellent, and he has been excellent.

“For me, it represents a lot to be friends with him,” stated Rodrigo De Paul, Messi's Argentina and Inter Miami colleague. “For me, friendship is one of the most important things that we all have and I consider myself fortunate to be there, to share these moments with him.”

There have also been plenty of moments.

Messi had the game’s first good chance Friday, his all-world left foot sending a shot skidding across the goal mouth but outside of the right post in the 15th minute. Three minutes after being hauled down, he got a 25-yard free kick, which Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha easily grabbed.

However, the tide was turning, and Messi soon took the lead 1-0. He controlled the pass, timed his move to stay onside on a ball brought into the area by defender Lisandro Martinez, and then scored his 124th goal for his country by lifting a shot over Vozinha's left shoulder from close range. Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal is the only player with more, with 146.

Before teammates surrounded him in celebration, Messi saluted the pass by extending his arms and pointing to Martinez.

Argentina was a large favorite; some sportsbooks placed the reigning champs at minus-3500 to win, which meant that gamblers would need to spend $3,500 to profit $100. The Messi goal likely gave some people the impression that the scoring dam was about to burst.

It wasn't.

Midway through the second half of extra time, Messi set up the game's ultimate victory with a corner kick that rebounded over some heads and into the net after Cape Verde tied the score at 1-1 and 2-2.

Messi remarked, "It competes, as this team has shown numerous times, and as I have stated numerous times." "And we fought to the very end."

Now that all four of the leaders have comfortably advanced to the Round of 16, the Golden Boot race may also go to the very end.

Messi and Mbappé are by no means the only competitors for the Golden Boot. As of Friday, four players—France's Ousmane Dembele, Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal, Brazil's Vinícius Júnior, and Senegal's Ismaila Sarr—had four goals, while Norway's Erling Haaland and England's Harry Kane each had five. Due to Senegal's elimination, Sarr is no longer in the running.

Norway, England, and France have made it to the Round of 16; Argentina and Messi, the star of Inter Miami who is regarded as the best player of all time, have just barely joined them.

Goalie Vozinha of Cape Verde stated, "Our team did everything we could to win the game."

Messi has never taken home the Golden Boot. Leading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup, he finished second with seven goals, one behind Mbappé. In 2014, he tied for third with four goals.

If there’s a tie atop the goal list after the tournament ends, FIFA will utilize assists as the first tiebreaker and fewest minutes played as the second tiebreaker. Based on his 2-0 advantage in assists going into Friday, Mbappé would have had the advantage over Messi.

Messi is now leading the scoring race, though. Above all, he continues to compete for another World Cup victory.

Lionel Scaloni, the coach of Argentina, stated, "I hope you now realize, there is no easy opponent."