Messi’s Argentina stand between Cape Verde and one more World Cup shock

Every World Cup throws up one team that has no business being where it is, and this time it is Cape Verde. The Blue Sharks, an island nation of around half a million people playing in their first ever finals, have reached the last 32, and their reward is a night in Miami against Lionel Messi and the reigning world champions. Argentina meet Cape Verde at Hard Rock Stadium on Friday July 3, kicking off at 6pm local time, which is 3:30am IST on July 4.

Cape Verde got here without winning a game

This is the part that makes the story so strange and so likeable. Cape Verde did not win a single group match. They drew 0-0 with Spain on their World Cup debut, held Uruguay to a 2-2 draw, and shut out Saudi Arabia in another goalless stalemate to finish second in Group H behind the Spanish. Three draws, three points, and a place in the knockouts.

That makes them the first nation since Chile in 1998 to advance from a group by drawing all three matches, and by most reckonings the smallest country ever to reach the World Cup knockout rounds. A side ranked in the sixties came into the tournament as an afterthought and leaves the group stage unbeaten against a former champion. Whatever happens in Miami, the players have already written a chapter their country will retell for decades.

Argentina arrive as heavy favourites

On the other side stands the team that lifted the trophy in 2022. Argentina swept their group with three wins from three, and Messi has looked every bit the man driving them, sitting at the top of the tournament’s scoring chart. The captain has already added another World Cup record to his collection here, and at this stage of his career every knockout tie carries the quiet question of whether it could be his last.

The gap in quality is not subtle. The bookmakers have Argentina as prohibitive favourites, and on paper a squad packed with Champions League regulars should have far too much for a group of players drawn largely from Europe’s smaller leagues. Lionel Scaloni’s side will expect to control the ball, work the flanks and wear the underdogs down.

Can the fairytale survive one more round?

Cape Verde have already shown they know how to frustrate better sides. Sit deep, stay compact, take the sting out of the game and hope one chance falls their way. It worked against Spain and Uruguay, and knockout football has a habit of tightening nerves on the favourite as much as the underdog, especially when the scoreline stays level into the closing stages.

Realistically, Argentina should win, and win fairly comfortably. But Cape Verde were not supposed to be here at all, and a team that has spent a month proving people wrong will fancy nothing more than one more shock in front of a Miami crowd. The winner moves into the last 16 and a step closer to a World Cup that keeps refusing to follow the form guide.

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