MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Lionel Messi scored his record-extending 20th World Cup goal, but Argentina needed 120 minutes and two nerve-wracking comebacks from Cape Verde to escape with a 3-2 victory Friday at Hard Rock Stadium in what is already being described as one of the most dramatic and improbable matches in the history of the tournament.

Argentina, the world’s top-ranked team and defending champion, were pushed to the absolute limit by Cape Verde, ranked 67th in the world and a nation of just over 500,000 people making its first-ever World Cup appearance. The defending champions survived what would have been statistically the biggest upset in World Cup knockout history, eventually advancing on Cristian Romero’s header in the 111th minute that deflected off Cape Verde defender Diney Borges to end a match that left a stunned stadium in South Florida asking whether they had just witnessed something extraordinary.

The answer, unambiguously, is yes.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was measured but respectful in his assessment of what his team faced.

“I have to give credit to our opponents,” Scaloni said after the final whistle.

Messi opened the scoring in the 29th minute with a moment of characteristic genius, controlling a Lisandro Martínez pass into the box with the outside of his left boot before swiftly flicking the ball past Vozinha, Cape Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper, in one unbroken motion that seemed to defy both physics and the reality that the player executing it was 39 years old and playing in his sixth World Cup. The goal was his seventh of this tournament and the 20th of his World Cup career, extending the all-time men’s World Cup scoring record he now holds alone.

Messi became the first World Cup player to score in eight consecutive appearances, and has scored 12 times in his past eight World Cup matches.

Cape Verde refused to fold. In the 59th minute, midfielder Deroy Duarte received a pass from Ryan Mendes, turned inside the penalty area and fired past Emiliano Martínez at the far post in what was his first-ever international goal, silencing the pro-Argentina crowd and sending thousands of Cape Verde supporters into delirium. The equalizer reflected a shift in the match’s character: Argentina’s early control had gradually given way to a more physical, more urgent game that the Blue Sharks were winning.

Vozinha, the goalkeeper who had already become an unlikely star of the group stage for his performances against Spain and Uruguay, extended his legend in the second half. He denied Messi’s right-footed finish, made a sharp stop on a deflected free kick and repeatedly commanded his penalty area with the authority of a player competing well above the level his domestic standing in Portugal’s second division would suggest. He finished the match with eight saves, each one keeping alive the possibility of the single greatest upset in modern football history.

Extra time opened with Argentina pushing hard for what they hoped would be a decisive advantage. It arrived quickly, in the 92nd minute, when Martínez arrived at the near post from a Messi corner and rifled a left-footed shot past Vozinha to restore the lead. The stadium exhaled. The match appeared settled.

Then came the goal that stopped the world.

In the 103rd minute, Cape Verde midfielder Sidny Lopes Cabral received the ball on the left edge of the penalty area, cut inside onto his right foot and curled an extraordinary shot into the far corner, beating Emiliano Martínez from an angle that seemed to offer him almost no chance. The stadium fell silent. The Argentine players stood momentarily frozen. Cabral sprinted toward his teammates in a celebration that will be replayed for years as a monument to the human capacity for belief in the face of impossible odds.

Argentina were seconds away from a penalty shootout and potentially the greatest embarrassment in the reigning champions’ modern history. Instead, with a penalty shootout looming, a Messi corner swung into the area in the 111th minute found Romero at the near post. His header struck Borges and deflected into the net, the cruelest ending imaginable for the Cape Verde defender who had been one of the reasons the match had gone this far.

Even then, the match was not fully settled. Emiliano Martínez needed to make two smart saves in the final minutes to keep Cape Verde from a third equalizer.

The defeat ends Cape Verde’s inaugural World Cup campaign but does nothing to diminish what the island nation achieved across four matches at the tournament’s largest stage. They drew 0-0 with Spain, the reigning European champions. They drew 2-2 with Uruguay. They drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia. And in their final match, they took the world’s No. 1-ranked defending champions to 120 minutes before a deflected goal ended their Cinderella story. They were the only remaining debutant nations in the competition to advance from the group stage, and they departed having captured the imagination of billions.

Argentina, still shaken, move on to face Egypt in Atlanta on Tuesday, July 7, in the round of 16. Whether the defending champions can rebuild their rhythm after being so thoroughly tested by a team ranked 67 places below them will be one of the tournament’s most closely watched storylines over the next few days.

Messi, meanwhile, has seven goals in this tournament, one more than France’s Kylian Mbappé in the Golden Boot race, and 20 career World Cup goals across six tournaments, a record that now seems likely to stand for a very long time.

The pre-issue share sale is unlikely to exceed ₹2,000 crore, one of the people said. “The pre-IPO placement will be part of the overall public issue. So, the shares on offer in the IPO could be around ₹9,500 crore,” the person said.

An email sent to SBI Funds Management did not elicit a response until press time.

The fund house, which has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), is set to launch the IPO between July 14 and July 16, with a possible listing on July 21.

The IPO will be entirely an offer for sale (OFS), with no fresh capital being raised. Existing shareholders State Bank of India (SBI) and Amundi India Holding will together sell 20.37 crore equity shares, representing around 10% of the company’s paid-up equity capital.

Live Events

SBI is expected to sell about 12.8 crore shares, while Amundi will offload around 7.5 crore shares.
SBI Funds Management is a joint venture between SBI, which holds around a 61.9% stake and France-based Amundi with 36.4%.In the unlisted market, SBI Funds shares were trading at around ₹828 apiece on Friday, implying a valuation of about ₹1.68 lakh crore, marginally above the ₹1.65 lakh crore market capitalisation of listed peer ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company.

The stock has gained about 21% in the unlisted market over the past year.

The fund house had a market share of around 15.5% and managed a quarterly average assets under management of about ₹12.5 lakh crore as of December.

“The consumer goods sector is expected to witness a revenue growth of 17.3% CAGR in the 2025-2030 period on account of credit growth, GST cuts, unlocking of demand from tier-II/III cities, and premiumisation,” the rating agency said.

“Meanwhile, tailwinds for healthcare services include strong interest and debt coverage ratios, a medical tourism market of an estimated $13 billion, and expansion of the Ayushman Bharat programme to senior citizens over the age of 70.”

Brickwork reviewed 25 sectors, assigning a stable outlook to 22. Power distribution was the only sector with a negative outlook.

The agency said the power distribution segment remains weak due to elevated and unsustainable debt levels, reflected in weak credit profiles and persistent cash gaps from low or delayed tariff increases.

Live Events

“Discoms, which have identified and reduced distribution losses and improved collection efficiency, will be better positioned to curb losses and meet the LPS terms,” said Niraj Rathi, senior director-ratings at Brickwork Ratings.
Brickwork expects a stable credit outlook across 22 of the 25 sectors in FY27, supported by resilient domestic demand, sustained government capital expenditure, healthy balance sheets, improving operating margins and predictable cash flows despite geopolitical uncertainties.

Under the revised framework, securities purchased by clients but not fully paid for will continue to be credited directly to their demat accounts. However, they will be automatically pledged in favour of a separate Client Unpaid Securities Pledgee Account (CUSPA) maintained by the trading member, eliminating the need for fresh pledge instructions from clients.

The changes align the framework with regulatory developments, including the mandatory direct credit of securities to investors’ demat accounts, while addressing implementation issues raised by the broking industry. “Representations have been received from Brokers’ Industry Standards Forum seeking revisions to these provisions to align them with the current regulatory and market environment and to address certain operational challenges faced during implementation,” Sebi said.

This is the forum for daily political discussion on Seeking Alpha. A new version is published every market day.

Please don’t leave political comments on other articles or posts on the site.

The comments below are not regulated with the same rigor as the rest of the site, and this is an ‘enter at your own risk’ area as discussion can get very heated. If you can’t stand the heat… you know what they say…

More on Today’s Markets:

Moderation Guidelines:

We remove comments under the following categories:

• Personal attacks on another user account
• Anti-Vaxxer or covid related misinformation
• Stereotyping, prejudiced or racist language about individuals or the topic under discussion.
• Inciting violence messages, encouraging hate groups and political violence.

Regardless of which side of the political divide you find yourself, please be courteous and don’t direct abuse at other users.

For any issue with regards to comments please email us at : moderation@seekingalpha.com.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.