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Messi has seven goals in this World Cup — one more than in the race for the Golden Boot as the top scorer of the tournament — and has scored 12 times in his last eight World Cup matches.

“For me, it represents a lot to be friends with him,� said Rodrigo De Paul, Messi’s teammate with Argentina and Inter Miami. “For me, friendship is one of the most important things that we all have and I consider myself fortunate to be there, to share these moments with him.�

And there has been no shortage of moments.

Messi had the game's first good chance Friday, his all-world left foot sending a shot skidding across the goal mouth but outside of the right post in the 15th minute. After getting taken down, he had a 25-yard free kick three minutes later that was easily gobbled up by Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha.

But the momentum was shifting, and before long, Messi broke through for a 1-0 lead. He timed his run perfectly on a ball played into the box by defender Lisandro Martinez to stay onside, controlled the pass and then lifted a shot over Vozinha's left shoulder from close range for his 124th international goal. Only Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 146, has more.

Messi outstretched his arms and pointed to Martinez, saluting the pass, before teammates mobbed him in celebration.

Messi and ²Ñ²ú²¹±è±èé are far from the only contenders in the Golden Boot race: Norway’s Erling Haaland and England’s Harry Kane each had five goals entering Friday, while four players — France’s Ousmane Dembele, Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal, Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior and Senegal’s Ismaila Sarr — had four. Sarr is out of the running since Senegal has been eliminated.

Norway, England and France have advanced to the Round of 16; Argentina and Messi, the Inter Miami star who is widely considered the greatest player ever, would join them with a win over Cape Verde.

Messi has never won the Golden Boot. He finished second with seven goals — one behind ²Ñ²ú²¹±è±èé — while leading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title, and he tied for third with four goals in 2014.

If there’s a tie atop the goal list when the tournament ends, FIFA will use assists as the first tiebreaker and fewest minutes played as the second tiebreaker. Entering Friday, that meant ²Ñ²ú²¹±è±èé would have had the edge over Messi based on his 2-0 lead in assists.

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