Round of 32Full time
Final · Jul 3
Goals
5 goals — watch every replay below
- 29'Lionel Messi▲ 9k
- 59'Deroy Duarte▲ 11.8k
- 92'Lisandro Martínez▲ 1.9k
- 103'Sidny Lopes CabralGreat goalGoal of the match▲ 44.4k
- 111'Cristian Romero▲ 2.2k
The market saw itImplied · model line
The stakes
Round of 32, full time: Argentina 1-1 Cape Verde. Single elimination — one side's run ends here.
- storylineMessi's Last DanceVintage hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Algeria (June 16) — his FIRST-ever World Cup hat-trick at age 38, drawing level with Miroslav Klose on 16 career WC goals, the all-time record. One more goal makes it his outright. Argentina top Group J.
- storylineCape Verde — the half-million-person miracleHeld Spain to a stunning 0-0 (June 15). Spain had ~27 shots; 40-year-old keeper Vozinha and a wall of bodies kept the clean sheet. Cape Verde became just the 7th team ever to avoid defeat on its World Cup debut. Coach: 'It means everything for our country.'
The two sides
ArgentinaChampions, Messi's last World Cup
Reigning world champions and a whole country holding its breath for one last Messi miracle — he opened with a hat-trick at 38. The stakes are not just winning; they are sending him out right.
Cape VerdeTiny island nation on its first World Cup
Five hundred thousand people, a first-ever World Cup, a 40-year-old second-division keeper crying at full time — and they held mighty Spain to 0-0. This is the exact fairytale the World Cup exists to produce.
Who plays where
Argentina
- Inter Miami CF ×2Lionel Messi, Rodrigo De Paul
- Aston VillaEmiliano Martinez
- Atletico MadridJulian Alvarez
- Atlético MadridNahuel Molina
- ChelseaEnzo Fernández
- Inter MilanLautaro Martinez
Cape Verde
- ChavesVozinha (Josimar Évora Dias)
- Estrela AmadoraJovane Cabral
- Iğdır FKRyan Mendes
- VillarrealLogan Costa