The Selection of Argentina will face the surprising squad of Cape Verde in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cupin a transcendental direct elimination duel that will be played in the Hard Rock Stadiumlocated in Miami, Floridawith which the direct elimination phase will begin for the current champion.
He Canadian Drew Fischer will be the central referee, accompanied by the mexican Katia Itzel and Sandra Ramírez in the refereeing body, so that the fans of the Blue Sharks He began to complain on social networks, since the shortlist of referees is made up of three referees from America, the same continent as Argentina.
Regardless, the Albiceleste qualified for the round of 32 of the World Cup as leader absolute of Group J, with score perfect after consecutively defeating Algeria (3-0), Austria (2-0) and Jordan (3-1), where Lionel Messi He led the offensive of the current world champion and scored six goals so far in the tournament.
For its part, Cape Verde became the revelation and debutante historical of the final phase, because she placed second in the Group H and remained undefeated after reaping three draws in a row: against Spain (0-0), Uruguay (2-2) and Saudi Arabia (0-0), where much of their feat lies in the performances of their 40-year-old goalkeeper, Vozinha.
Date and time of Argentina vs. Cape Verde
The commitment between Argentina and Cape Verde will take place next Friday, July 3, at 4:00 p.m. of Guatemala, and will be broadcast by Tigo Sports throughout Central America, given that the winner of this key will advance to the round of 16 and will face the winner of the cross between Australia and Egypt next Tuesday, July 7.
The confrontation between Lionel Messi and the archer Vozinha (Josimar José Évora Dias) is the main duel of the match between Argentina and Cape Verde in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup, because this match generates enormous expectation for the different realities of both footballers in the World Cup North America.
Lionel Messi leads the scoring table with six goals in this edition and consolidated himself as the highest gunner history of the World Cups with 19 goals. For his part, Vozinha, the 40-year-old veteran goalkeeper, established himself as the national hero of Cape Verde thanks to its actions against powers like Spain and Uruguay.
It is for this reason that this crossing has become one of the most attractive of this World Cup, due to the contrast between both figures, given that weeks before the 2026 World Cup began, the Cape Verdean publicly declared that his maximum sleep was to play against Argentina to face their idol, Leo Messi.
National hero and presidential tribute
Vozinha was the big reveal of the group stage of the 2026 World Cup after keeping a clean sheet against powers like Spain, so their performance skyrocketed popularity. He went from 200 thousand followers on Instagram to 17 million in a few days, which made him a national hero and a freak viral on the internet.
However, the impact of the crossing against Argentina is so great that the president of Cape Verde himself, Jose Maria Nevesannounced that he will formally present Lionel Messi with a shirt from his team with the number 10, in recognition of his pathfor which it is frequently considered the best player in history.
#MajorSelection We arrived in Miami! 😉 pic.twitter.com/neOiGJCjxC
— 🇦🇷 Argentina National Team ⭐⭐⭐ (@Argentina) July 2, 2026