Argentina will be the overwhelming favourites when they take on Cape Verde in their Round of 32 match on Friday. But even that is an understatement.
The gulf between the defending champions and the World Cup first-timers is so vast that it can’t be bridged with a single statement. Not just the rankings or skills, even in terms of numbers, Argentina are as intimidating for a team like Cape Verde as it can get. For example, the last time Argentina lost a knockout match in a tournament was in 2019, when they were beaten by arch-rivals Brazil in the Copa America semi-finals.
Since that defeat, the Argentines have been the most successful international team with two Copa titles to go with their 2022 World Cup triumph.
In the ongoing tournament, Argentina have taken off like champions with not only an all-win record, but also with their spearhead, Lionel Messi, hunting down goals like an apex predator. Messi already has six in his bag and will look to add to that number on Friday in Miami, where he plays his club football nowadays.
But Cape Verde will be deaf to all such noise that tells them that they can’t beat Argentina. They have heard all that since the 2026 World Cup started, and have royally kicked them out of their way as they stunned the world match after match to make it to the knockouts on their very first appearance.
The Africans have huge confidence in their ability to defy the odds and keep
their fairytale debut campaign alive.
Draws with former World Cup winners Spain and Uruguay helped them into the knockout stage and assistant coach Humberto Bettencourt said this week that it would
be “a pleasure” to face the Albiceleste.
“Statistics are theories. Football — as many results throughout history have shown — proves that what really counts is what happens inside the four lines,” he told reporters at the team’s camp in Tampa.
“They gave us one per cent before, and now four per cent is irrelevant to us. We focus much more on our ambitions, our expectations, and above all on the value that defines this working group.”
President’s prediction
Speaking of Cape Verdean confidence, their president, Jose Maria Neves, has predicted that his country will defeat Argentina. “I think Cape Verde can beat Argentina
1-0,” he said in an interview with the BBC.
“We are playing to win... when expectations are low regarding a team, and if that team has the urge to win, it is possible. A small nation like Cape Verde should make an
effort to always do that — to permanently surprise people,” he said.
With inputs from Reuters