Messi Warns Argentina’s ‘Bad’ Mistakes Could Cost Them the World Cup After Cape Verde Scare

Lionel Messi didn’t sugarcoat it. After Argentina barely scraped past Cape Verde 3-2 in extra time during the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the captain went straight to the point: the reigning champions made too many mistakes. And against better teams, those mistakes will get them sent home.

This wasn’t a dominant performance. It was a survival job, and everyone in the Argentina locker room knows it.

The Win That Raised More Questions Than It Answered

Argentina looked like they had things under control when Messi opened the scoring in the 29th minute with one of those goals that makes you forget he’s human. But Cape Verde didn’t fold. They fought back, equalized before halftime, and then matched Lisandro Martínez’s 92nd-minute header with a stunning long-range strike from Sidny Lopes Cabral. It took an own goal off Diney Borges — deflected from a Cristian Romero header — to finally put the game away.

Messi praised the team’s grit and their work on set pieces, which he called increasingly important in knockout soccer. But he also pointed out that Argentina lost possession too often, sat too deep, and stopped pressing effectively. Those are tactical breakdowns, not bad luck.

Messi’s Warning: Clean It Up Now

According to ESPN, Messi acknowledged the squad made “many” blunders that need immediate fixing. Manager Lionel Scaloni echoed that, promising to address the systemic issues. It’s a warning from the inside, not just media chatter.

The win did extend Argentina’s winning streak to 11 games, which is historic. And Messi’s first-half goal made him the all-time leading scorer in men’s World Cup history with 20 goals, two ahead of Kylian Mbappé. He also scored in his eighth consecutive World Cup match, which is insane. He leads the 2026 Golden Boot race with seven goals.

But none of that matters if Argentina plays like this against Egypt in Atlanta on Tuesday. Egypt isn’t Cape Verde. The margin for error just got a lot thinner.

Messi knows it. Scaloni knows it. The question is whether they can fix it in time.