Lionel Messi praised Cape Verde after the tiny African nation pushed Argentina all the way in their last-16 clash before an own goal saw them exit the World Cup.The score was 1-1 after 90 minutes, with Messi scoring his seventh goal of the tournament and his eighth consecutive World Cup match with a goal across two tournaments.Deroy Duarte equalised just before the hour mark, and Cape Verde held out to force the game to extra time. Lisandro Martinez put the world champions ahead before Sindy Lopes Crabral scored a deserved leveller on 103 minutes.The game looked as though it could be heading for penalties until Cristian Romero headed in Messi’s corner In the 111th ​minute, which went in off the hand of ​Cape Verde defender ⁠Diney Borges to complete a 3-2 victory.Messi, 39, said he and his teammates expected a tough game against the tournament’s underdogs – and that’s exactly what they got in Miami."Honestly, we knew beforehand that the match would be extremely tough," Messi said. "And it's no coincidence that this national team hasn't lost to Spain or Uruguay."“We managed to achieve the hardest part by scoring the first goal, and we thought that would help us impose our playing style and play with greater calm, but exactly the opposite happened.“We lost possession in some periods, retreated a bit to the back, and failed to press them as required, and they exploited their weapon and scored. We knew the task would be complicated.”“These are knockout matches, and no one gives you anything for free. Some might underestimate national teams because of their names, but we knew it wouldn't be an easy match at all.“And that's what makes this World Cup special; everything is so close, and all the matches are extremely difficult.”Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring their first goal as Cape Verde's Vozinha looks on. ReutersInfoMessi scored his 20th ⁠career World Cup goal in his 30th match at the global finals to move ahead of Kylian Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot early in the contest, and Martinez scored early in extra time to give the Argentines a 2-1 advantage.Cape Verde, the smallest nation to reach the World Cup knockout round, answered those first two goals. ⁠Duarte's 59th-minute leveller was well-deserved after his side's bright start to the second half. Cabral's world-class ⁠strike stunned the crowd and evened ‌it at 2-2 in the 103rd minute.But 40 years and 11 days after Diego Maradona's famous "Hand of God" goal – which would have certainly been ruled out in the modern era of VAR – the manual intervention this time was above board because it came from a defender.The advantage rule allows a referee to ignore a foul by a defending team – including a handball – if it benefits the attacking team. Had Borges' handball prevented Romero's header from going across the goal line, it would have resulted in a penalty kick for Argentina.Cristian Romero heads in Argentina's winning goal. ReutersInfoArgentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made two crucial late interventions, including denying another attempt by Cabral, to set up a last-16 meeting with Egypt in Atlanta on Tuesday.The match was easily Argentina's most difficult of the tournament and left Cape Verde as one of the competition's feel-good stories.While they became the seventh African side to be eliminated from the competition, they earned worldwide respect.“We put in a huge effort as usual, whether we played well or didn't deliver our best levels,” added Messi.“Now the most important thing is to rest, think about the next match, and try to draw the positive aspects from today's encounter.”App users: Click here to download the World Cup wall chart