FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread

[Ruttoshi]

He might get some offer's from club's but his carrier wont last long. In his last age he just presented us a greatest goal keeper. Cape Verdean should proud of themselves as a nation. They earned it. Football is a place of emotion for almost half of the people in the earth. Usually we don't see this types of matches but Cape Verde presented us an excellent match to enjoy. I really did enjoyed the match , it was like every second every minute was ticking. I was able to hear the ticking sound of the time even though there is no wall clock in my room.

FIFA doing a great job by extending the groups in worldcup otherwise we wouldn't have to watch these excellent display of games.
Ranking, New Team doesn't matter that's what proved Cape Verde. If you have enough guts to face it then you can.

I believe clubs in Saudi and MLS will sign him because they are used to signing old players and I believe Vozinha is better than most of their goalkeepers. Vozinha is keeping with experience despite that Argentina won the game he got all the attention than Messi because he was able to stop Messi from scoring more goals.

I love Cabo Verde spirit, they're not afraid of anyone and didn't look down on themselves instead, they came to the world cup to make name for themselves. Imagine playing Argentina to extra 30 minutes with a 2-2 draw. I respect them even though, they gat no name.

[9ja Amaka]

Argentina got a hard match with Cape Verde while before the match, many people expected an easy win for them, and after Messi scored a first goal, this belief becomes clearer. However, Cape Verde players did not give up and they challenged Argentina till the very last minutes of 120 minutes. They did almost succeeded to pull Argentina to penalty shootouts, anyway with all four matches in World Cup 2026, Cape Verde can be proud of themselves.

I must confess that I am really impressed with Cape Verde,  nobody gave them.a chance against Argentina,  but they gave a good fight and almost took Argentina to the penalty shootouts. They might be out of the world cup,  but I think they should be proud of their performance all through the world.  The should work with their head high, because they were never giving the chance to get to this level,  but they did and I think they can build on it for the next world cup.

[pawel7777]

Cabo Verde refused to go down easily and were close of making a huge surprise. I can't remember the actual odds, but Argentina must have been a big favourite. They struggled to convert their dominance into goals, but eventually got what they wanted and are going through to the final 16. We didn't have a Cinderella story, but Cabo Verde can still be pleased with their performance.

Messi's goal brought him some more records. He is the first player to score 20 World Cup goals and the first to score 7 or more in two tournaments. He scored in eight consecutive World Cup appearances, which is really incredible if you think about it.

Here are the complete brackets for the round of 16:



It looks like France has the easiest route to the final. They could face Spain on their way but Spain haven't been performing at the expected level. Argentina, if successful in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, could be facing England or Brazil in the semi-final.

[Oluwa-btc]

Cabo Verde put up an incredible performance last night against the a team with the best player in the world. It’s a pity that the African teams are being eliminated from the World Cup one by one. I’m particularly proud of Cabo Verde and Dr Congo, they put on a show and I love it. Despite the difference in FIFA rankings, Cabo Verde went head to head with the defending champions, taking the game to extra time before conceding an unlucky goal in the final minutes to lose the game. Who knows what would have happened if the ref hadn’t blown the whistle abruptly.

It is all fine and dandy. Even the Cape Verde goalkeeper despite the lose didn't feel no such thing as pity as he was single handedly cheering his teammates feeling sad and blue immediately after the final whistle. They've been knocked out, but they have impressed the world in a billion ways unknown to them.

At least, we still have the likes of Egypt and Morocco locked in. I'm sure of Morocco emerging into the next half but not Egypt who will be up against defending Champions Argentina in the round of 16.

[Fakhrulenclix]

Argentina got a hard match with Cape Verde while before the match, many people expected an easy win for them, and after Messi scored a first goal, this belief becomes clearer. However, Cape Verde players did not give up and they challenged Argentina till the very last minutes of 120 minutes. They did almost succeeded to pull Argentina to penalty shootouts, anyway with all four matches in World Cup 2026, Cape Verde can be proud of themselves.

I must confess that I am really impressed with Cape Verde,  nobody gave them.a chance against Argentina,  but they gave a good fight and almost took Argentina to the penalty shootouts. They might be out of the world cup,  but I think they should be proud of their performance all through the world.  The should work with their head high, because they were never giving the chance to get to this level,  but they did and I think they can build on it for the next world cup.

High appreciation for Cape Verde and indeed they are truly very impressive and it is recognized by almost everyone because of their extraordinary performance and Cape Verde has been a part that makes this year's world cup much more impressive even though they were eliminated but the defeat against Argentina is very understandable and even many people still appreciate them because of the resistance they showed.

[blomen]

argentina definitely needs players who can score and create extra opportunities. i admit that cape verde played an amazing game, but the only consistent player on argentina’s team who can create extra scoring opportunities and score is still messi. i can’t even imagine an argentina game played without him.

in the last world cup, di maría was the one doing that, but right now it feels like argentina is fielding a team of completely average players. aside from messi, there hasn’t been a single player we’ve been able to point to so far. i hope they don’t struggle this much against egypt either.

[Catenaccio]

argentina definitely needs players who can score and create extra opportunities. i admit that cape verde played an amazing game, but the only consistent player on argentina’s team who can create extra scoring opportunities and score is still messi. i can’t even imagine an argentina game played without him.

in the last world cup, di maría was the one doing that, but right now it feels like argentina is fielding a team of completely average players. aside from messi, there hasn’t been a single player we’ve been able to point to so far. i hope they don’t struggle this much against egypt either.

Argentina actually got a more difficult match than they wanted but Cape Verde can be proud of everything they did in World Cup 2026 including the match with Argentina. They tried to equalize it 3 - 3 too and almost succeeded, and surely if they could bring the match to penalty shootouts, Argentina players would feel very scary. Defeats of Germany and Netherlands at this spots are big lessons for Argentina and they tried as best as they can to win against Cape Verde in 120 minutes.

I asked myself like where Vozinha was in the last 10, 15 or 20 years before he played in this World Cup?
What a goalkeeper.

[paco92x]

He might get some offer's from club's but his carrier wont last long. In his last age he just presented us a greatest goal keeper. Cape Verdean should proud of themselves as a nation. They earned it. Football is a place of emotion for almost half of the people in the earth. Usually we don't see this types of matches but Cape Verde presented us an excellent match to enjoy. I really did enjoyed the match , it was like every second every minute was ticking. I was able to hear the ticking sound of the time even though there is no wall clock in my room.

FIFA doing a great job by extending the groups in worldcup otherwise we wouldn't have to watch these excellent display of games.
Ranking, New Team doesn't matter that's what proved Cape Verde. If you have enough guts to face it then you can.

Cape Verde won the fans' hearts with their performances against not one, but two top-five countries, and they managed to stay undefeated while doing so. Everyone involved should be proud. This will never be forgotten. That's what football is all about—winning our hearts and leaving a mark that can last for all eternity. 🇨🇻 🇨🇻

[Solodoski]

Messi had one goal and one assist. Lissandro Marinex had one goal and one assist. Football is indeed a beautiful game to watch. Emotions were raining down like fountains of living waters. Vhozinho stole the show yesterday. He is a remarkable goalkeeper to watch. Messi couldn't believe he eyes when Vhozinho made those saves. I wont also forget that goal from Sidny Lopes. It is the best goal of the 2026 World Cup. Argentina's goalkeeper did not see that one coming. I saw fear in the eyes of the Argentina team when Cape Verde equalized.

[Woodie]

Argentina must have been left traumatised by that Cape Verde performance because they didn't expect that kind of a game, and seeing this went to the wire am expecting a fatigued Argentine team who won't be 100% ready but because it's that slow Egyptian team.. maybe they have a lifeline to get past the round of 16..

Otherwise Cape Verde has had a solid performance in this worldcup and hope scouts get some of its player's playing in the big leagues 

[Shussainshah]

Cabo Verde put up an incredible performance last night against the a team with the best player in the world. It’s a pity that the African teams are being eliminated from the World Cup one by one. I’m particularly proud of Cabo Verde and Dr Congo, they put on a show and I love it. Despite the difference in FIFA rankings, Cabo Verde went head to head with the defending champions, taking the game to extra time before conceding an unlucky goal in the final minutes to lose the game. Who knows what would have happened if the ref hadn’t blown the whistle abruptly.

Instead of losing against Argentina and out of the worldcup but everyone applauded for Cape Verde. I recently checked the cape Verde Population are just 500k and I was shocked a country which have only 500k and you qualify for the worldcup it's just incredible achievement. I think the football Fan can appreciate this cape Verde team and hope they can remember theirs Goalkeeper Vezhinoa which is incredible in the whole worldcup and I think if we can give the whole credit for this worldcup It will be thats Goalkeeper and the one who is really deserve for that's achievement. Best Of luck for Cape Verde Journey.

[Stavri]

it looks like the semi finals will be between France-Spain and Brazil-Argentina... in this case, i think France could take the cup. i reckon France might just win the cup...

Argentina would have to beat Cape Verde first. Their game is on right now and the Cape Verde goalkeeper is already getting some highlights from his touches with the ball, feeling all confident about his play and their defense like looks a lot organized, they’ve not allowed Argentina to get a lot of them right now and they are hoping to capitalize on counter attack to survive this game against Argentina.
This would be an under 1.5 game, there wouldn’t be a lot of goals in this fixture.

out of nowhere, Argentina faced a shocking near exit from world cup in this match. and i really love seeing teams like Cape Verde fight with such relentless spirit. tbh anyone who goes crashed out after a battle like that deserves so much more...

[HajiBagi]

Cabo Verde put up an incredible performance last night against the a team with the best player in the world. It’s a pity that the African teams are being eliminated from the World Cup one by one. I’m particularly proud of Cabo Verde and Dr Congo, they put on a show and I love it. Despite the difference in FIFA rankings, Cabo Verde went head to head with the defending champions, taking the game to extra time before conceding an unlucky goal in the final minutes to lose the game. Who knows what would have happened if the ref hadn’t blown the whistle abruptly.

Argentina won the game but Cape Verde won people hearts, i did not expect that kind of performance from Cape Verde against Argentina, what a good performance from them, Cape Verde should be awarded the best loser of the tournament because their performance is exceptional and if not the best goalkeeper is giving to a goalkeeper that play in the final Cape Verde goalkeeper should be the best goalkeeper of the tournament because he deserves it, at the age of 40 he is still making a lot of saves.

But there is something i observe in the game i don’t know if i am the only one that saw them because i always talk about the officiating of games after games, the referee decision in the game is very bad and that kind of referee should not be allowed to participate in any of the games because some of his decisions he made is to favour Argentina, Argentina player should receive a red card because of some reckless tackle and international handball and he chose to ignore it and tell Cape Verde players to continue playing the game. FIFA should stop what they are doing because it makes people believe that Messi World Cup is rigged and that is not good to say about one of the greatest players in the world.

[Pablo-wood]

Instead of losing against Argentina and out of the worldcup but everyone applauded for Cape Verde. I recently checked the cape Verde Population are just 500k and I was shocked a country which have only 500k and you qualify for the worldcup it's just incredible achievement. I think the football Fan can appreciate this cape Verde team and hope they can remember theirs Goalkeeper Vezhinoa which is incredible in the whole worldcup and I think if we can give the whole credit for this worldcup It will be thats Goalkeeper and the one who is really deserve for that's achievement. Best Of luck for Cape Verde Journey.

Cape Verde impressed everyone. Of their overall performance I am more impressed with Vozinha who made a total of 7 impressive saves. It was an emotional and entertaining fixture. Cape Verde making it to the world cup alone is beyond an achievement, If not for Diney own goal maybe penalty would have decided the fate of both teams.

[Livingleged]

Ghana is a disappointment, Antone Semenyo has shown he is just a club player, he does not have the quality that  was expected of him to lift his country. Imagine trailing with a goal down, yet no urgency in their game, Colombians  always have at least 5 players in Ghana box even leading and was pushing for more goals, while the black stars had just a player in the opponent's box. Tell me how will they score like that. What is Jordan Ayew doing on the pitch in the first place, let alone being the captain.
I think the coach has no business including him in the team, Partey was another flop, he should better hang his boot.
As for Cape Verde, they gave the defending champions a run for their money being a first timer to the global stage.
Egypt has done well for Africa kudos to them, but am yet to see the best of Marmuosh, the 2nd half goal he lost is unforgivable considering his quality and the quality of goals he scores in Man City jersey. Mo Salah's candle is not burning too bright, it seems he needs to brighten it in the next game.

[emrecemsan]

Argentina struggled a lot unlike probably most people expected... Cape Verde is such an interesting team. They were so unpredictable with making huge difficulties for much bigger teams than them.

Carrying it to extra time and literally fighting until the last moment deserves all the appreciation! Lopes Cabral looks like a really good talent. What a goal by him and he was so close to scoring another superb one by a free-kick! 


Ghana were really horrible by the way. If it weren't for their goalkeeper's serious effort the final gap would be much higher.

[Kavelj22]

The first half is still ongoing and Messi made the first goal at minute 29'. It doesn't need a miracle for Cape Verde to win but it will ne a hard mission just to achieve a draw. Let's confess that we have been all surprised with the unexpected performance of Cape Verde.
As foe Egypt, I think it surprised us as well because of the comparison with the level during last African cup in Morocco with an arrogant coach. Honestly, I don't see Egyptian team to be at the level of a performed team. They are just lucky. This is a personal opinion, not a general truth.

Honestly, who is this man? The guy is 39 years old and became the first man to score in eight straight games and at the age of 39, he scored more goals than the rest of the players (but truth be told, his Argentinian teammates also support him a lot and they are very focused on him, none of them acts like a selfish person, they are always looking for Messi to give him the ball whenever possible and beneficial).
Even according to official statistics, Argentina has a significant advantage in absolutely every aspect but still, the score is 1:0, it's not a time to relax. At the moment, both teams play very carefully but Cape Verde has to become more active to create moments and don't play in defense. I would be happy to see Argentina more into striking because that will be more beautiful for me to see as a fan of the team.

I am an Argentina fan as well, but this time I am in the under-dog side. Cape Verde showed an amazing performance that nobody was expecting it to be that strong and beautiful against one of the powerful teams in the world. I witnessed one of the greatest matches I have watch ever and I was waiting for luck to play its role in penalty kicks before Argentina scored the third goal at minutes 111. The world was astonishing last yesterday and I think Cape Verde should have to win if it was against another team from Europe or Africa. Congratulations to Messi's great team. They deserve a nice win.

[Majestic-milf]

Cape Verde won the fans' hearts with their performances against not one, but two top-five countries, and they managed to stay undefeated while doing so. Everyone involved should be proud. This will never be forgotten. That's what football is all about—winning our hearts and leaving a mark that can last for all eternity. 🇨🇻 🇨🇻

Cape Verde were able to hold Spain and Argentina to a draw and this are 2010 and 2022 WC winners so this team deserves their flowers. The confidence and presence they brought to the game needs to be studied. Cape Verde are more better than all the African countries that have left and even some of the European ones so even though they were kicked out, they should hold heads high cause it's not a mean feat. Coming back against a big team like Argentina is a win on it's own and to think they are the smallest team in terms of population in this tournament.

[Joeboy]

Argentina struggled a lot unlike probably most people expected... Cape Verde is such an interesting team. They were so unpredictable with making huge difficulties for much bigger teams than them.

Carrying it to extra time and literally fighting until the last moment deserves all the appreciation! Lopes Cabral looks like a really good talent. What a goal by him and he was so close to scoring another superb one by a free-kick! 


Ghana were really horrible by the way. If it weren't for their goalkeeper's serious effort the final gap would be much higher.

Cabo Verde deserves some Accolades... I couldn't hold my laughter especially when I saw the pressure that Cabo Verde mounted in Argentina who we all call the world champions   Even Messi too couldn't believe his eyes the way Vozinha was catching most of his shots... Just imagine Messi who h ad 7 shots in their match against Cabo Verde, but was only able to net a single 1, that's very poor for someone who we all look up to as the Greatest footballer.. Cabo Verde is a very underrated African nation, but yet performed far better than even Argentina in my own opinion...

[Derekfunds]

Argentina got a hard match with Cape Verde while before the match, many people expected an easy win for them, and after Messi scored a first goal, this belief becomes clearer. However, Cape Verde players did not give up and they challenged Argentina till the very last minutes of 120 minutes. They did almost succeeded to pull Argentina to penalty shootouts, anyway with all four matches in World Cup 2026, Cape Verde can be proud of themselves.

I must confess that I am really impressed with Cape Verde,  nobody gave them.a chance against Argentina,  but they gave a good fight and almost took Argentina to the penalty shootouts. They might be out of the world cup,  but I think they should be proud of their performance all through the world.  The should work with their head high, because they were never giving the chance to get to this level,  but they did and I think they can build on it for the next world cup.

High appreciation for Cape Verde and indeed they are truly very impressive and it is recognized by almost everyone because of their extraordinary performance and Cape Verde has been a part that makes this year's world cup much more impressive even though they were eliminated but the defeat against Argentina is very understandable and even many people still appreciate them because of the resistance they showed.

The result of Argentina vs Cape Verde make me to question the chances and possibilities of Argentina qualifying for finals and winning the trophy again because before the game started I already see the game as an easy one for Argentina but that was not the case, if not for the last goal they would've ended in penalty kick and who knows what would have happened there. This game reminds me of France vs Argentina game in the 2022 finals because it was almost the same thing.