The outline looked familiar at first. Argentina had Messi, control and the kind of early breakthrough that usually calms a favorite in a knockout match.

Al Jazeera's liveblog scoreboard listed Messi's opener in the 29th minute, followed by Deroy Duarte's equalizer in the 59th. What began as Argentina's night became a test of their nerve.

Messi's goal gave Argentina the lead and another entry in his World Cup record book, but it did not break Cape Verde. That mattered more than the first-half pattern. The Blue Sharks did not shrink into a damage-control exercise.

Duarte's finish changed the emotional temperature. Argentina suddenly had to work again, and Cape Verde had proof that the champions could be reached. From there, every Argentina attack carried relief as much as threat.

Lisandro Martinez put Argentina back in front in the 92nd minute, early in extra time. For a moment, that looked like the champion's reset: a defender arriving with the blunt answer when the match had started to get uncomfortable.

Cape Verde answered again. Sidny Lopes Cabral's 103rd-minute equalizer made it 2-2 and dragged the match toward the possibility Argentina most wanted to avoid: a penalty shootout against a fearless underdog with nothing left to protect but its moment. The final turn came in the 111th minute. Diney Borges was credited with an own goal after Cristian Romero's header deflected in, giving Argentina the third lead Cape Verde could not erase.

For Argentina, the story is escape. For Cape Verde, it is proof that the run was not a novelty act or a generous bracket quirk.

Cape Verde arrived in the knockout stage after draws against Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, and ESPN reported that they became the smallest country to reach the World Cup knockout round. That context turns the performance against Argentina into something larger than a brave defeat.

They did not beat the holders. They did something nearly as uncomfortable for Argentina: they made the world champions look uncertain for long stretches of a match they were expected to control.

Goalkeeper Vozinha was central to that. ESPN reported 10 saves against Argentina, including five against Messi, and Cape Verde's resistance stayed credible because the defensive stand was not passive. They broke out, found shots and made Argentina defend the box late.

The emotional balance after the final whistle belonged partly to the defeated side. Cape Verde had come back twice against the champions, pushed them into extra time and left the pitch with the sense that the result was narrow enough to haunt both teams.

In The Guardian's post-match reaction, coach Bubista said Cape Verde did its work with dignity and courage. That was not dressing-room consolation. It was a fair description of the match Argentina had just survived. This is why the game will be remembered even though the favorite advanced. The underdog did not merely hang around. Cape Verde kept changing the game back, forcing Argentina to solve it again and again.

Messi still shaped the match, as he almost always does when Argentina need definition. His first-half finish was clinical, and his set pieces helped produce the late pressure that finally separated the teams.

Opta's post-match data said Messi scored his 20th career World Cup goal, made his 30th World Cup appearance and extended his scoring run at the tournament to eight matches.

Those numbers make the scare stranger, not smaller. Argentina had Messi creating history and still could not put Cape Verde away until the 111th minute. The holders advanced, but they did not look insulated by their status.

That is the tension around Argentina now. They can still win these games because they have Messi, experience and enough set-piece threat to survive poor spells. They can also look open to chaos when an opponent refuses the script.

Lionel Scaloni's reaction reflected that mixture. The Guardian quoted him saying Argentina suffered through a difficult game, while other current reports noted his insistence that there are no easy opponents. After this, that line will sound less like a cliche.

The problem for Argentina is not the bracket alone. It is the image left behind: the defending champions sweating through extra time against a debutant nation that had already spent much of the tournament exceeding every expectation.