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Messi shatters four world records with opening goal against Cape Verde

With a perfect touch followed by a shot from a tight angle, Lionel Messi opened the scoring for Argentina against Cape Verde in Miami, bringing his World Cup goal tally to 20 and setting four new records.

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Messi shatters four world records with opening goal against Cape Verde
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Lionel Messi opened the scoring for Argentina against Cape Verde in Miami in the Round of 16 of the World Cup, scoring his seventh goal of the tournament with a shot from a tight angle after a perfect touch on a long ball from Lisandro Martinez.

The goal came shortly after the half-hour mark, following two earlier Argentine chances in the 15th and 18th minutes. Breaking through the Cape Verde defence, Messi controlled the ball with surgical precision before firing past goalkeeper Vozinha at an angle few would have attempted.

The strike came with a flurry of statistics. It was Messi’s 30th World Cup knockout match, an absolute record. The Argentine is also playing in his eighth consecutive World Cup with at least one goal, another first in the competition’s history. His career tally now stands at 20 World Cup goals, a further record. Finally, with seven goals in this edition, he leads Kylian Mbappé by one in the tournament’s scoring chart.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner — itself a record — continues to write his story in a competition he won in 2022 in Qatar.

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